Happiness is a journey not a destination
by LadyBullseye
Summary: After Lisanna and Natsu confess their feelings for each other Lucy comes to realize she relies on Natsu far too much and sets out to become stronger and more self reliant. How will Team Natsu feel about her going out on her own? Why does it seem like Laxus is following her and when did that smug bastard become so damn attractive to her? My first story please R&R
1. Chapter 1

Dear Mama,

It's been four weeks...four weeks since Natsu and Lisanna confessed their feelings for each other and my world has managed to somehow get turned completely upside down. Some part of me knew this was coming I'm not blind I saw the signs just like everyone else. I saw the heated looks and the hugs that lasted just a little too long. I saw the way she would watch him when we left one a mission together and the way he would light up when she walked into a room. We all knew this was coming I just didn't think it would affect me the way that it did.

I had always told myself that Natsu and I were "just friends" and that's all that we ever would be. I never thought of a relationship with him. (Ok...maybe that one time...but it was totally Mira's fault for putting the crazy idea into my head in the first place) I just never looked at Natsu and thought to myself "Now there is a guy who is grade A boyfriend material I should get with it" he was always...just...Natsu. He was loud and destructive and a total pest always breaking into my house eating all my food and sleeping in my bed. However that was then and now..I don't know what changed but something did and now I don't know what I feel

I know I should be happy for Natsu he's with his childhood sweetheart those two overcame some amazing odds to be together and I'm happy he's happy I really am...just why can't it be with me? I know it sounds cliche but I didn't know what I had until it was gone. I took our relationship for granted and I realized that the day I came home to an empty house and a fridge full of food. I miss him. I miss him in ways I never thought I would. I miss the looks that were just for me, I miss coming home to find him in my bed, and I miss it just being the two of us and happy. We were like a little family.

I wish I could say that Lisanna was terrible and she didn't deserve him. I want to be angry with her for taking him away from me. I want to hate her for having the man I never realized I wanted, but I can't. Lisanna is...in a word...amazing. The two of them are beautiful together it's like they each found their other half they complete each other. Seeing them together, no matter how much it hurts me makes me happy, because I know that she belongs with him and not me.

Lisanna has been so understanding of mine and Natsu's friendship I feel guilty for even thinking of wanting to hate her. She's never jealous when Natsu and I go on "Team Natsu" missions, and she has never once tried to replace me to make Natsu choose between the two of us. She's tagged along with us on our last few missions and she fits right in with everyone perfectly. She's strong and smart, a great asset to the team and it's nice to have some one to have "girl talk" with when Erza isn't around. I can't hate or be angry at her mom no matter how much I wish I could; she's been such a wonderful friend to me and I don't want my regrets over my relationship with Natsu to come between us.

I guess I'm just having trouble with letting go of what could have been between me and Natsu. If I had been the one to walk up to him after a mission and kiss him square on the lips and told him I was in love with him would he have looked at me the same way he did Lisanna? Would he have felt the same way about me or would he still be pining for her? It's like the second she told him she loved him...I wanted to scream that he was MINE that she couldn't take him away from me. I realized in that moment that not only did I love him, but that I could never have him. The way he looked at her, no man has ever looked at me that way.

I wanted to run home, shut myself in my room, and cry for days but then he looked at me and he was so happy I couldn't ruin that moment for him. The guild was so happy those to finally confessed their love that they threw a party the next day. I went of course Natsu is still my best friend, but every time someone would congratulate them or tell them it was "about time they hooked up" it was like my heart broke all over again. I smiled and drank with the rest of the guild I tried to pretend I was as happy for the love birds as they were and I had everyone convinced...well almost everyone.

I should have known that I couldn't fool Erza or Mira. They waited for me to break away from the crowd and go to the bar alone Erza didn't say anything she just exquiped and pulled me into an almost crushing hug. Mira brought me another drink and promised me that there was someone out there for me too and she "wouldn't rest until she found him". I spent the rest of the night at the bar laughing as Mira went through every man in the guild trying to decide who I would "make the most beautiful babies with". She seemed genuinely upset when I shot down the idea of blue haired brown-eyed babies with Bickslow stating they would have been gorgeous.

Erza walked me home that night not saying a single word until we got to my house. Once she came in she changed into her pajamas sat on my bed and just held out her arms for me and I broke down. I sat on my bed with her for what felt like hours and just cried as she held me telling me that everything would be alright. And you know what mom? She's right everything will be ok because I have all of my friends at Fairy Tail and they will always be there for me. I have a mission with all of Team Natsu tomorrow and Lisanna is tagging along, so wish me luck and tell Dad I love him.

Love Always,

Lucy

* * *

><p>Lucy leaned back in her desk chair stretching and rubbing her eyes. "Ugh when did it get so late" she mumbled to herself as she sealed the letter to her mom and put it with the rest. Getting up she made her way to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change into her night-clothes so she could at least get some sleep before the mission tomorrow. "I really hope Natsu and Erza can keep the destruction to a minimum this time I really need this money for my rent" she thought as she closed her eyes and let sleep over take her. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading! This is my first Fanfiction so if something seems off I'm open to any suggestions to help improve things. Also I'm sorry if things seem slow I promise they'll be picking up really soon I just wanted to use this first chapter to kind of set the mood for the story. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

"CRAP!" Lucy screamed as she jolted out of bed. She had stayed up late the night before writing a letter to her mother and as a result overslept. "10 minutes" she thought looking at her clock "I can get ready and make it to the train station in 10 minutes...who am I kidding? I'm going to be late and Erza is going to kill me". Quickly putting her hair up in two loose pigtails and throwing the rest of her clothes into her travel bag Lucy sprinted out the door saying a silent prayer to herself for Erza's mercy. She didn't even have time to wave to the boat men as they warned her about the dangers of being too close to edge of the water as she raced down the streets of Magnolia. "I can make it! I can make it!" she kept chanting to herself.

By the time she skidded to a halt at the train station panting from exertion everyone was already there waiting for her, and Erza was looking especially stern. "You're late." The red-head stated as she handed Lucy her ticket.

"I know I'm sorry I accidentally overslept, but I ran here as fast as I could" Lucy replied panting between each word

"Man Lucy you sure are out of breath...maybe if you lost a little weight it wouldn't be so hard for you to run." Happy chimed in flying towards the worn out blonde.

"HEY! Watch it cat!" Lucy screamed pulling on the blue cat's cheeks.

"Guys I hate to interrupt, but if we don't hurry we're going to miss the train" Lisanna said pointing to the train which was almost finished loading.

"See Lucy you'll make us late because you're too heavy to run faster." Happy managed to squeak out in between each tug of his cheeks.

"Keep it up cat and you'll be riding the train stuffed in one of Erza's suitcases" Lucy seethed pulling his cheeks even tighter.

"The train..." Lisanna started before being interrupted by a very angry Erza

"Everyone on the train now!" Erza stated glaring at everyone with a look that left no room for argument.

Everyone snapped to attention and started boarding the train with out another word. Lucy sat herself between Grey and Erza across from Lisanna, Natsu, and Happy still glaring at the latter. How dare he call her fat I mean sure she could probably stand to lose a few pounds even Capricorn had mentioned that much to her dismay..maybe she should start going for a run before she went to the guild in the mornings. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the train had started moving until she heard the tell-tale signs of Natus's motion sickness.

"Hey watch it Flame Brain these are new pants I don't want you getting sick on them" Grey shouted trying to scoot further away from Natsu.

"Grey, what pants are you talking about?" Lisanna asked sweetly.

"WHAT?! When did that happen!" Grey said looking down at his boxer clad legs in dismay.

"Poor Grey. I don't know why you spend so much money on clothes you know you're just going to lose them somewhere." said Lucy

"Stupid Ice Stripper" Natsu managed to mumble out in between dry heaves

"Awe Natsu you don't look to good would you like to lay your head down on my lap?" Lisanna asked pulling Natsu towards her

"That's not necessary" Erza stated cracking her knuckles "I can help Natsu with his motion sickness"

Before Natsu or Lisanna could even think of protesting Erza had delivered a swift punch to Natsu's midsection effectively knocking him out for the rest of the train ride.

"There much better." Erza stated as a matter of factly "Now why don't we take this time to go over our mission once again. I know there are 6 of us, but this is still an S class mission so we need to be prepared. After reading the report the mayor sent us it seems this dark guild operates mainly in the late afternoon. They go from shop to shop as they close collecting protection money, and anyone who can't pay comes into work the next morning to find their shops destroyed. So far they've destroyed 3 shops when the owners couldn't afford their outrageous demands, and the rest of the shop owners are struggling to keep up with the ever changing prices. They weren't able to give us too much information on what kind of magic was used some of the eyewitnesses reported seeing fire magic others reported shadows but it was all very vague. We do know for certain that there are about 20 or so mages in the guild including their master with at least 3 of them being S class. No one knows where their guild is, so we'll have to stake out the shops they've been harassing and try and follow them back."

"Those poor shop keepers for most of them their shops are their lives and the only way they have of supporting their families this must be so hard on them." Lisanna said sadly

"Well those assholes are going to pay. We'll teach them they can't just bully people weaker than them." Grey said with a determined look in his eye

"Aye Sir!" Happy interjected

Lucy yawned loudly still worn out from not getting enough sleep "Sorry guys" she muttered sleepily

"Here Lucy" Grey said pulling Lucy against his cool body "You can sleep until we get into town I'll wake you up when we get close"

"Thanks Grey" Lucy said leaning into him as she drifted off.

* * *

><p>Lucy struggled to open her eyes as she felt someone shake her gently.<p>

"We're here Lucy time to get up." Grey said softly trying to gently wake the sleeping blonde

"Just 5 more minutes mom." She replied dreamily

Suddenly the door burst open and a large jet of cold water hit Lucy square in the face jolting her awake.

"LOVE RIVAL! Juvia knew it! Juvia knew you were out to steal Grey-sama from her." The water mage screamed

"What?! No Juvia it isn't like that I was just taking a nap" Lucy managed to sputter out as another jet of water was sent her way

"Juvia how did you get here in the first place? I don't remember telling you where I was going on a mission to." Grey questioned

"Oh Grey-sama" Juvia said dreamily "Juvia waited for you outside of your house and followed you to the train station and then snuck onto the train while you all waited for Love Rival to show up."

"Will you be joining us on our mission?" Lucy asked wringing the water out of her hair

"Of course!" Juvia exclaimed looking pointedly at the drenched blonde "How else is Juvia supposed to keep an eye on Love Rival and make sure she doesn't make any more moves on her precious Grey-sama?"

"What moves was I making?!...You know what Juvia never mind I'm glad you are able to join us on this mission Erza and I are heading into town to meet the mayor do you want to join us or go with them to get our hotel room" Lucy asked pointing to Lisanna and Grey who were now dragging a still unconscious Natsu through the streets.

"Pick out a hotel room with Grey-sama?!" Juvia said breathlessly as she closed her eyes and imagined her and Grey sharing the honeymoon sweet

_"Juvia I am so glad you could come with me on my mission it would have killed me to be away from you for so long. I hope you don't mind but I ordered us room service" A shirtless Grey says as he makes his way to the cart of food and carrying the tray over to the bed "Juvia my darling come sit with me...let me feed you" he whispers huskily as he holds a strawberry up to her mouth._

_Juvia leans in to take a bite of the strawberry and finds herself wrapped in Grey's strong arms. Blushing she looks up at him as he leans down to seal his cool lips over hers..._

"Oh Grey-sama Juvia would love to sit on the bed feeding each other strawberries late into the night" Juvia exclaims lost in her own daydream

"Eh?!" Grey says shooting a confused look at the blushing water mage

"We'll you guys have fun with that we're going to go let the mayor know were here and see if we can get any more information from him" Lucy shouts as the groups part ways.

* * *

><p>"Are you ok?" Erza asks once the two girls are alone<p>

"I'm doing better" Lucy says as she smiles sadly "It's still hard to see them together, but it's getting better. Now I just have to worry about Juvia downing me in my sleep"

"I'm sure after getting to book a hotel with her 'precious Grey-sama' she'll be in a much better mood." Erza laughed as the two girls got closer to the mayors house.

"I hope so I don't want to spend this entire mission soaking wet." Lucy laughed wringing out her skirt

The two girls tried to get control of their laughter before they got to the mayors door. Finally managing to stifle their giggles and put on a more serious face Erza knocked on the door. A short brown-haired maid answered the door ushering the two girls in the house.

"Mayor Coulson is waiting for you in his office." The woman said motioning for the girls to follow her

The two mages followed the woman silently nearly bumping into her when she stopped suddenly in front of a large wooden door knocking softly.

"Mayor Coulson the mages from Fairy Tail are here." She shouted through the thick wooden door

"Let them in! Let them in!" A voice came from the other side of the door

The maid opened the door ushering the two young ladies inside as she closed the door behind them.

"Thank you so much for coming this means so much to our town. I can't thank you enough if there is anything you need just let me know." the mayor said coming out from behind his desk to pull out a chair for each of the girls before sitting back behind his desk.

"Thank you Mayor I am Urza Scarlet of Fairy Tail and this is my partner Lucy. Now is there anything else you can tell us about this dark guild that may be of use?" Erza asked

"No sadly I haven't learned anything new since I put the request out. The last shop keeper that came forward for information was beaten and left in our town square, after that everyone has been too afraid to come forward. This however is a list of all the shop keepers that came forward before the beating saying they were being harassed I've put their names as well as the shop addresses on here for you." He said sadly as he handed the girls each a copy of the list

"Thank you Mayor I'm sure this will be very useful in aiding us track down their hideout. Now if you will excuse us I want to meet up with the rest of our team at our hotel so we can decide on our best course of action to catch these men" Erza said standing from her chair and motioning for Lucy to follow

"You are welcome I'm sorry I couldn't do more. Please let me know if you need anything else" The Mayor reiterated walking the girls to the door

"We will let you know when we have made some progress" Erza stated before turning and walking towards the hotel

"Don't worry Mayor Coulson we'll find this guild and bring them to justice" Lucy said as she smiled reassuringly at him before turning to follow Erza

"Do you think they'll be able to find those scoundrels Mr. Mayor I mean they're not the first guild to try" The maid asked worriedly as she brought the Mayor his afternoon tea

"All we can do is put our faith and trust in them and hope that Fairy Tail can live up to its reputation" He replied sitting back behind his desk and taking the cup of tea presented to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed ^_^ I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. I couldn't resist sneaking some Juvia moments into this chapter her crazy antics always amused me. It'll probably be another chapter or two before we see any Laxus action but don't worry it's coming :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Erza and Lucy met up with Grey as he waved them down in front of a small hotel.

"Hey so it looks like these assholes are hitting up the hotels too this one was the only one open for business in town the rest are all undergoing repairs" Grey said with a look of disgust

"UGH these guys just make me sick! If they keep this up no one in town will be able to make a living we have to put a stop to this NOW!" Lucy replied

"Well all we can do right now is try and find their guild hall we don't want to rush into action with out knowing what were up against. I didn't mention this before, but we're not the first one to take this mission. After another guild was run out of down it was bumped up to S class. I don't want to make the same mistakes they did" Erza said thoughtfully "We got a list of some of the shops that were being harassed so we'll split up in teams of two and stake them out"

"Sounds like a good plan" Grey said heading into the hotel and handing Erza a key "We already got your stuff moved into your room they only had 3 rooms left, so here is the key to yours and Lucy's room...Juvia was supposed to be staying in the room with you, but I think she's hiding under my bed"

Lucy stopped just before the hotel doors struggling not to cry. Of course Natsu and Lisanna would be sharing a room they had been dating for about a month now she had even heard them talking about moving in together. It just hurts to witness it first hand...to be sleeping just one room away from the two of them...together. Lucy may be a virgin, but she wasn't naïve she knew what couples did when they slept together...in hotel rooms. Even if they weren't having sex Lisanna still got to go to sleep curled up next to Natsu's warm body. Lucy sighed remembering not too long ago she used to get so angry when she would wake up and find the fire mage in her bed, now she would do anything to fall asleep in his arms. She knew she was letting her jealousy get the better of her she was here on a mission damn it she needed to keep her head in the game not get distracted by her love life or lack there of.

"Hey Lucy you coming?" Grey called

"Yea sorry got distracted" She replied rushing to catch up trying to ignore the pointed look Erza was giving her.

"Erza Lucy did you get any more information from the mayor?" Lisanna asked walking out of her hotel room with Natsu close behind her

A sharp pang shot through Lucy's heart as she took in Lisanna's slightly disheveled hair obviously recently kissed lips and Natsu's blushing face. "Stop it Lucy now is not the time..mission...focous on the mission." she thought as she mentally slapped herself

"We didn't get much more information, but we did get a list of some of the shops and shop keepers that were being harassed. The plan is for us to split into teams of two and go through the list hopefully we'll be able to follow one of the mages back to their guild and decide on the best plan of attack from there." Erza stated "Now we will most likely be up late into the night if all goes well, so I want everyone to rest until later this afternoon and then we'll make our rounds closer to the shops closing times."

Everyone gave Erza a resounding "Aye Sir!" and headed back to their respective rooms.

Lucy followed Erza to their shared room and as soon as the door closed she let go.

"I'm sorry Erza I know I shouldn't be worried about Natsu during a dangerous mission like this, but seeing them together sharing that hotel room...it was just too much." Lucy sobbed falling to the floor

Erza quietly exquiped and sat on the floor with Lucy and held her until she was done crying stroking her hair in a soothing manner.

"I know this is hard for you, and I'm sorry I wish I could do something for you to make this easier." Erza whispered softly once Lucy's sobs died down a bit

"Thank you Erza I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you here" Lucy cried into the red head's shoulder

"Lucy you have always been there for me you're like a sister to me how could I ever do any less for you?" Erza replied whipping the tears from Lucy's cheeks "Now let's get some rest we can't afford to be careless on this mission...Lucy I hate to even ask but will you be ok or do you need to sit this one out?"

"No no I'll be fine now that I've gotten it out of my system." she said allowing Erza to pull her up off the floor

* * *

><p>Lucy awoke several hours later to find Erza already up and dressed in her usual armor looking over the list of shops.<p>

"Are you ready? We need to meet up with the rest of the team and start checking out some of these shops" Erza enquired

"Yep just let me grab my keys." Lucy replied following Erza out the door

The rest of Team Natsu was waiting for them in Grey's hotel room. Lisanna sat next to Natsu on the bed with happy curled up in her lap "Look at them" Lucy thought "They're so happy together and all I can think about is how I wish it were me. It's selfish I know and I don't want to feel this way, but just seeing them there feels like someone twisting a knife in my gut." Lucy frowned a bit as she walked into the room

"Yo Luce what's wrong you seem upset?" Natsu asked concern masking his handsome features

"No it's nothing Natsu" Lucy quickly lied "This guild just upsets me...all those poor shop keepers I really hope we find them tonight."

"Yea I'm all fired up" Natsu exclaimed

"Aye sir" Happy chimed in

"Alright there were 10 shops on the list so Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy you take these 3" Erza said handing them a small piece of paper "Grey and Juvia you can take these 3" she said handing the paper to Grey since Juvia was in the middle of another day dream probably about Grey confessing his love in one of the shops. "Lucy you and I will take the last 4"

"Alright we'll meet back here in 4 hours if anyone finds the guild don't try and be a hero that means you you flaming idiot" Grey looks pointedly at Natsu "You find the guild you come back and tell us where it's at I don't want to have to come save your sorry ass Natsu"

"As if I would ever need you to come save me Ice Princess" Natsu growled glaring at Grey

"ENOUGH we don't have time for this lets get going" Erza said forcibly separating the two men

The team each went their separate ways doing their best to look casual so they didn't draw attention from any dark guild members who might be on the look out.

* * *

><p>Lisanna and Natsu made their rounds to all of the shops not noticing anything out of the ordinary.<p>

"Maybe the shops are on some sort of payment schedule I mean it would make more sense than them going to all the shops every night." Lisanna offered

"Yea I guess that would make sense I just wish we found something these guys are really pissing me off." Natsu replied walking with his hands behind his head looking up at the night sky "I guess we should go meet up with the others."

"I hope one of them found something I really hate to think that these shop keepers would have to go through this another day." Lisanna sighed

"Aye" Happy said flying low

The three of them walked back to the hotel still looking in vain for the dark guild members.

"Hey Natsu...have you noticed anything off about Lucy? She seems like she's upset about something, but when I ask her she always tells me nothing is wrong. Do you think I did something?" Lisanna asked timidly

"Lisanna's right Lucy has been acting strange, but I don't know why. We haven't broken into her house, gone through her things, eaten all her food, or tried to read her novel in weeks so I don't know why she would be upset." Happy stated

"Maybe she's upset you guys haven't been spending enough time with her I think after we finish this mission you should go on a mission with just you and Lucy. Maybe going out with the original 'Team Natsu' will cheer her up" Lisanna offered

"Yea maybe you're right I don't hang out with her as much as I used to. Man.." Natsu said rubbing his head sadly "...I hope Luce isn't too upset with me she's my best friend I feel bad"

"Like I said I think a Team Natsu mission will be just the thing to cheer her up" Lisanna said smiling

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered

* * *

><p>Lucy and Erza were making their way to the last shop when they heard a noise in one of the back alleys. They both immediately took a battle stance preparing for the worst. The girls waited with baited breath as the noise came closer until...a tabby cat burst from behind the trash cans.<p>

"You have got to be kidding me" Lucy sighed "we are striking out if an alley cat is the most action we've seen all night. You think the rest of them are having any better luck?"

"I hope so I really didn't want to drag this mission out; this guild needs to be brought down now" Erza said

"Lets head back to the hotel I don't think we're going to find anything here" Lucy replied heading back in the direction of their hotel

They walked in silence Lucy was still trying to get the image of Natsu and Lisanna out of her head. What if she never got over this because she never got closure. "No there is no way I could confess to Natsu that would just hurt Lisanna and who knows what it would do to mine and Natsu's friendship. I know he doesn't return my feelings, so there is no point in putting everyone through that drama." Lucy thought dejectedly "I wish there was just someway to get my feelings out there without hurting everyone. I've got it ...a story! I'll put it in one of my stories! I can change the circumstances so that no one would know what it was about...not that anyone would read it other than Levy, and I trust her to keep it a secret even if she figures it out." Lucy smiled as she started to plan out her story. She would confess her love to Natsu and since she was writing the story she could have whatever ending she wanted and no one would ever know.

"I haven't seen you smile like that in awhile Lucy what's going on?" Erza inquired as they walked into the hotel lobby

"Just planning out a new story I'll explain it later." Lucy whispered fearing one of the other team members might over hear them

* * *

><p>Across town Juvia and Grey were having a stroke of luck they were hiding in the bushes across from a small bakery as 3 dark guild members were making their way into the store. Juvia looked at Grey as she felt the temperature lowering around him as he watched the scene unfold before him.<p>

"Grey-sama" she whispered "Juvia knows how upsetting this is, but we can't do anything we need these guys to lead us back to the rest of their guild. Please Grey-sama you have to calm down or they will notice us"

Grey looked at Juvia who for once wasn't swooning over him or lost in one of her crazy day dreams and just sighed "Yea I know these assholes just piss me off"

They sat and watched as the dark guild members started knocking over cases of bread inside the little shop before they walked out.

"You have until this time tomorrow to come up with the rest of the money PLUS 20% interest" threatened the tall dark haired mage his entire body seemingly blending into the shadows.

"YEA it would be a shame if something happened to all these nice things you have here" laughed a green haired mage that looked like he could be the front man for some sort of punk band "I would really hate to see this shop have to close down" he sneered as he released a foul smelling yellow fire into the building

"That's enough guys lets go we don't have time to waste on these weaklings" a silver haired mage stated with an air of authority as he turned to walk away

The other two mages knocked a few more items over in the front of the store before following the silver haired man. Grey and Juvia followed closely behind the 3 men trying not to be seen or get left behind as they made their way through the woods on the outskirts of town. Finally they came upon a small building which they could only assume was their guild headquarters. The 3 mages walked into the building laughing loudly seemingly enjoying their night on the town.

"Alright Juvia you wait here I'm going to take a peek in the window and see what we're up against" Grey whispered heading towards the building

"Be careful Grey-sama" Juvia called out quietly

Grey ducked down below one of the windows stealing glances inside every few minutes before heading back over to Juvia.

"Ok I think I got the layout of that place pretty well memorized let's lead back and regroup with the others." Grey whispered grabbing Juvia's hand and dragging her out of the woods

"Grey-sama holding my hand during a romantic moonlit stroll thought the woods...how romantic" Juvia quietly squealed to herself

* * *

><p>Grey and Juvia arrived back at the hotel and found the rest of the team waiting for them in their hotel room.<p>

"We found them" Grey stated

"Good tell us what you managed to find out" Erza politely demanded

Everyone listened as Grey told them what he and Juvia witnessed at the bakery as well as the location of the guild hall.

"As far as I can tell there are about 20 mages most of them seemed to stay around the bar downstairs. I didn't see the master or those 3 guys from the bakery anywhere, so they must have been upstairs I'm guessing those 3 were their S class mages.

Erza looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to the rest of the team "Good job Grey we will attack at dawn with the element of surprise on our side this should go smoothly. Now lets all get some rest."

No one noticed the small orange tabby sitting on the window sill watching their every moment.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Team Natsu walked quietly through the woods heading towards the dark guild. Lucy was pleased that everything seemed to be going smoothly this mission, and that this guild seemed to be far enough from town that even if Erza and Natsu got carried away they shouldn't be able to do any damage to the town.<p>

"I shouldn't have any problems paying my rent after this mission" Lucy thought as she smiled to herself

"Lucy don't smile like that it's creepy" Happy whispered as he flew past her head

"Cat you are really pushing it" Lucy seethed though clenched teeth

"Alright the guild is pretty close we should be able to see the lights soon" Grey said suddenly stopping "What's the plan Erza?"

"I will find and take out the guild master. Natsu, Grey, and Juvia I want you 3 to find those S class mages. Lisanna, Lucy, and Happy I need you guys to try and keep the rest of the guild contained we want to apprehend as many of them as possible, and I suspect that once they see their master and more powerful members defeated they will try and flee. Everyone understand their part?" Erza stated looking each team member in the eye

"Aye sir!" the rest of Team Natsu replied

The moment they stepped into the guild hall Lucy knew something was wrong there was the entire guild just standing there...waiting for them. Suddenly Lucy felt something soft brush against her leg as it ran past her towards the dark guild members.

"HEY! It's that cat from the alley!" Lucy exclaimed looking at Erza

Suddenly the small feline was gone replaced by a young looking girl with wild ginger hair.

"Good job Rene" An older man, who Lucy could only assume was the guild master, said patting the girl on the head before looking up at the members of Fairy Tail still standing in the front of the guild hall "Last time we just chased those guild members out of town...but you...we'll make an example of you that way no one else will dare get in our way."

Within a matter of seconds the guild hall was utter chaos. Happy quickly grabbed hold of Lucy and flew her just above the action where they were soon joined by Lisanna using her bird soul.

"Every one else is busy fighting those s class mages and the master, so let's be sure to do our part and contain the rest of these creeps" Lucy said looking at Lisanna with a determined look in her eye

"Right" Lisanna nodded in agreement

"Lets head to the door so we can block their escape" Lucy suggested pointing to a few men already trying to flee the battle

Lisanna simply followed Lucy's lead and soon the two girls had developed an effective system for keeping the weaker mages in subdued. Lucy had Aries wrap the men in her wool bomb lulling them into a relaxed state then Lucy and Lisanna would take advantage of their relaxed demeanor and knock them out. Everything seemed to be going so well when suddenly a dark haired mage appeared in front of the girls darkness seemed to flow from him making Lucy shiver involuntarily in fear. This was one of the S class mages Lucy had seen Juvia going after him at the beginning of the fight.

"Please let Juvia be ok" Lucy thought looking around frantically for the blue haired woman. She gasped in shock as she saw Juvia standing protectively over a wounded Grey fighting off a tall silver haired mage who seemed to be using some form of light magic to hold her at bay.

"Your friend forgot all about me once Simon knocked out her little boyfriend...I got lonely" the dark haired man said smiling at the girls "What do you say little fairies would you like to keep me company?"

"LUCY LOOK OUT!" Lisanna screamed

Lucy barely had time to register what was going on as Happy once again took to the air avoiding the attack the dark mage sent their way. She looked down to see the shadows on the ground seemingly moving of their own accord swirling angrily on the ground below them.

"ARIES try and get him with your wool!" Lucy commanded the timid spirit

"I'll do my best" Aries whispered as she sent the pink fluff towards the dark mage

Lucy watched in dismay as he seemingly shrugged off Aries attack with a smirk.

"Come on little fairy I know you can do better than that" he taunted

"Aries I don't think that's going to work go back" Lucy shouted to the spirit pulling out another key "Open gate of the lion LEO!"

"Fear not my beautiful princess the brilliant light of Regulus will dispel this fiend's darkness." Loke proclaimed as he appeared in a shower of golden light "I'll make quick work on him so we still have time for our date later"

"DATE?! What date?!" Lucy shouted in dismay as Happy set her down on the ground behind Lucy obviously worn out from the battle

"Lucy we need to end this soon some of the other guild members are starting to wake back up and I don't think we would be able to handle them all at once" Lisanna stated as she called forth her tigress soul

"Yea let's do this" Lucy said cracking her Fleuve d'etolies "You ready Loke?"

"Always my princess" Loke replied after giving her a dashing smile

The three of them prepared to attack when suddenly everything went dark for Lucy.

"LISANNA...LOKE...HAPPY!" Lucy tried screaming into the darkness panicking when she couldn't even hear her own voice.

Lisanna and Loke glanced back at Lucy who seemed to be stumbling around unable to see or hear them.

"Princess!" Loke yelled rushing to grab Lucy who was wandering towards some of the revived dark mages

"Poor little fairy trapped in darkness by my shadows" the evil mage almost purred

"You'll pay for harming Lucy" Loke growled as he tried to guide Lucy away from danger

Lucy meanwhile had no idea what was going on she felt some strange force pushing and pulling her in different directions and fought against it. She was terrified she was completely cut off from the rest of the world all of her senses failing her she couldn't even smell the musk of the guild hall. Lucy knew she had started to cry, but she couldn't even feel the tears against her cheeks.

"Poor little lion cub how will you make me pay while you're playing seeing eye dog to your little princess over there" he barked out laughing as he watched Loke struggle with a distraught Lucy sending more shadows towards the distressed spirit.

Loke barely managed to push Lucy out of danger before the shadows sliced through his chest like a hot knife though butter.

"Lisanna protect Lucy" Loke managed to gasp out before fading away in a shower of golden light

* * *

><p>Lisanna launched herself at the mage screaming in rage scratching at him viciously with her claws. The man simply smiled dodging Lisanna's attacks with ease; it wasn't long before Lisanna noticed she was horribly out classed.<p>

"Come now little fairy you can do better than this" the mage smirked attacking Lisanna in an almost bored manner

Lisanna gasped as her head slammed into the wall behind her causing her to see spots. She looked around in vain to see if one of the others could help her she saw Grey and Juvia struggling against the light mage with Juvia supporting a seriously wounded Grey. Natsu was sputtering on the ground after eating some foul smelling yellow flames as the green haired mage who created them looked on and laughed, and Erza was no where to be seen probably off somewhere fighting the master.

"Well come on now little fairy what happened to all your bravado" the dark mage taunted walking towards her preparing to attack again

"NATSU! HELP ME!" Lisanna screamed unable to stop herself

Natsu's reaction was instintanious he looked over and saw his lover shaking in fear as the dark haired mage advanced towards her. He quickly finished off the green haired fire mage and raced towards Lisanna. Lisanna saw her lover racing towards her and knew he would save her she looked to the side when she felt something bump into her and saw that somehow Lucy had made her way back toward her. She held her friend tight trying to shield her from any further harm just as Natsu delivered a firey punch to the side of the dark mage's head stunning him.

Suddenly the world rushed back to Lucy all at once and she found herself overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught on her senses. It was too much for her after being trapped in that world of nothing and she held on tighter to Lisanna closing her eyes. Meanwhile Lisanna watched as Natsu faced off against the shadow mage crying out as her lover was knocked across the guild hall like a rag doll by a well placed shadow punch.

"Now now that wasn't very fair calling in your boyfriend to fight for you." The shadow mage tsked looking angrily at the two girls

Lisanna looked on in fear as he reached out calling the shadows towards him until they formed into a sinister looking sword pointed right at her and Lucy.

* * *

><p>Shaking her head in pain Lucy opened her eyes just in time to see the blury figure dark mage rushing at her and Lisanna with his shadow sword.<p>

"NATSU!" Both girls screamed in unison

Lucy felt relief as she saw a familiar pink haired blur race towards her. She still couldn't see very well after being blinded her eyes were much to sensitive, but she would recognize him anywhere. Natsu would save her he always did. Lucy relaxed and waited for Natsu knowing he would never let her be hurt. Suddenly she felt Lisanna pulled away from her, but before she even really had time to register the loss of her friends comforting warmth she felt a searing pain in her left shoulder.

"LUCY!" she heard Lisanna scream as she fell over on the ground.

Cold...she was so cold and wet. What happened? She shouldn't be cold Natsu had saved her and he was always warm. Did Juvia get jealous and spray her with water again? Maybe she could use the water to summon Aquarius she thought reaching for her keys as she blacked out in a pool of her own blood vaguely registering the sound of someone screaming her name again.

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><p><strong>So this chapter was a bit longer than the other ones I hope it doesn't feel too dragged out. I'm horrible at writing fight scenes, so I'm sorry if it seemed rushed or awkward. Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews. Next chapter we should start seeing some Laxus action ^_^<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Lucy woke up her head throbbing and her entire left side numb, looking around she recognized the familiar walls of the guild infirmary. She struggled to remember what happened and why she was back at the guild. Looking around she saw the rest of Team Natsu asleep at the foot of her bed even Happy had curled up in a little ball next to her. All of them looked worn out they were still covered in blood and dirt from battle and their eyes looked like they had been crying. Had they failed their mission? Holding the side of her head she groaned as a wave of nausea hit her.

"LUCY YOU'RE AWAKE!" Happy yelled Lucy's movements having woken the small blue cat

The rest of Team Natsu jumped to attention hearing Happy's excited cry.

"LUCY!" They all shouted at once their eyes filling with tears causing Lucy to grasp the side of her head in pain

"Guys not so loud please" Lucy whined "What happened anyways? Why are we back at the guild and what the hell is wrong with my left side?

"Oh Lucy it's all my fault" Lisanna cried grasping Lucy's right hand "I got scared and called out for Natsu. I knew you were hurt and couldn't defend yourself I should have tried harder to help. I should have called for Natsu to help you...I should have done more. Lucy please forgive me. You were injured because of me."

"Lisanna it's not your fault.." Lucy started memories of their battle flooding back to her

"Lucy's right Lisanna it's not your fault it's mine" Natsu stated grimly as he took a place on the left side of Lucy's bed "I could see that you were hurt, and I just left you there for that guy to impale with his weird shadow sword. I wasn't even thinking I was careless and stupid I let you down when you needed me the most."

"Natsu..." Lucy said softly looking at her pink haired friend

"No Natsu it is Juvia's fault Love Rival was hurt, that mage was Juvia's to deal with and Juvia let him get away" The water mage said her eyes down cast "Juvia is sorry Love Rival Juvia did not mean for you to get hurt Juvia was distracted by Grey-sama's injury. Please forgive Juvia Love Rival"

"No Juvia if I would have never been hurt you wouldn't have needed to save me. I'm sorry Lucy I should have been stronger I let you down" Grey said sitting down on the edge of Lucy's bed

"Guys really..." Lucy started

"No I am to blame Lucy. I should have disposed of the guild master faster and been there to fight at your side. You may hit me now if you wish" Erza said standing beside Lucy's bed

"Guy's really it was no one's fault people get hurt in battle it's no ones fault. I'm ok really I am just a little tired." Lucy said smiling at her friends

"Oh Lucy you're awake good" Wendy said smiling as she walked into the infirmary "Let me take a look at your wound I want to make sure everything is healing properly"

Everyone stepped aside to give the young healer room to properly examine Lucy all of them looking worriedly at the blonde as she winced in pain everytime her shoulder was moved even in the slightest.

"Everything looks like it's healing nicely you should take it easy for the next couple of weeks though" the blue haired healer said as she helped the blonde lay back down.

"Thank you Wendy." Lucy yawned as she fell back asleep

* * *

><p>The next couple of days were torture for Lucy Wendy insisted that she stay in the infirmary so she could keep a close eye on her at least for the first 72 hours and she was B-O-R-E-D bored. Levy brought her books to keep her busy and everyone from Team Natsu took turns visiting her throughout the day, but still being stuck in bed for so long was really starting to get to Lucy. She hated seeing the guilty looks on everyone's faces when they came to see her all of them blamed themselves for her injury; they all apologized to her repeatedly for not being able to protect her. Lucy frowned they were right though she relied on them too much to protect her especially Natsu. When she had seen Natsu rushing towards her she hadn't even tried to defend herself she just sat back and waited for him to come rescue her.<p>

The more Lucy thought about it the more it upset her, part of her felt betrayed that he had rescued Lisanna instead of her it was the second time he had chosen the other girl over her. No, that wasn't fair Lucy herself hadn't known about her feelings for Natsu until recently there was no way he could have known either, so he didn't really 'choose' Lisanna over her she was just letting her jealously get the better of her again. She relied on the pink haired dragon slayer far too much she thought frowning. He helped her pay her rent by doing most of the fighting on their jobs heck the only reason she could even take such high paying jobs was because of him, and she usually repaid him by complaining that he was too destructive. She counted on him to be her constant companion; Lucy came home almost every night to Natsu and Happy waiting for her. And any time Lucy was in danger she just expected Natsu to be there to bail her out.

Now that Natsu was with Lisanna it was time for Lucy to face the harsh truth that Natsu wouldn't always be there for her in the same way he was before. Sure he still went on missions with her to pay her rent, but there were times she knew he would like to go alone with Lisanna. She struggled to remember the last time she had come home to find Natsu just sitting in her house or going through her things; ever since he started dating Lisanna he rarely came over uninvited. Then on this mission when she had been hurt and counting on the dragon slayer to save her he had saved Lisanna instead and now here she was in a hospital bed. She needed to become more self-sufficient; she should be an equal member of Team Natsu not a burden.

Maybe she should do some training on her own, take a few solo missions, and take some time to get over the whole Natsu Lisanna situation. Maybe she could travel around and look for more celestial keys and spend some time working on her novel, anything to get her mind off of the pink haired fire mage. Lucy frowned how was she going to tell her friends she thought she needed some time to herself? They would probably think she was mad at them or think she wanted to leave them behind and she didn't want to hurt them. How can I explain my situation with out giving away too much about me and Natsu? Lucy was so deep in thought she didn't even hear the door open or Erza walk in and sit beside her until the red-head gently cleared her throat.

Started Lucy nearly fell over in her bed "Oh Erza I didn't hear you come in"

"I saw you were deep in thought and didn't want to disturb you. I thought you should know that Wendy has cleared you to go home; I came here to walk you back to your apartment. I was hoping we could have a chance to talk I'm sure there are some things you would like to discuss about this last mission." the older mage replied knowingly

Lucy smiled at her friend "Thank you. There is actually an idea I wanted to run by you see if you could help me explain it to the others."

* * *

><p>As the two girls walked home Lucy explained to Erza her feelings about Natsu and how dependent she was on him as well as her desire to grow stronger and more self-reliant. She talked at great length about how she would like to have a chance to go out and do solo missions to help develop her skills as well as search for more keys. Erza simply listened not saying anything until she was finished, and Lucy was extremely thankful that her friend was at least hearing her out before she gave her input.<p>

"So what do you think? Sounds crazy right? Me all on my own...just for a little while though I'm not leaving the team or anything" Lucy finally asked as they walked into her apartment

Erza looked thoughtful for a moment before finally replying "I admire your determination to grow as a mage and better your skills, but I do wish you would at least let one of us go with you to help you train."

"But if I go off with you or Grey that would mean I would either have to go out with Natsu as well or hurt him by going on missions with everyone but him." Lucy frowned "I really think I just need some time to myself to think things over, and I wont take any long or dangerous missions at least not at first. It's just ever since I joined Fairy Tail I've always been on Team Natsu I never got to go out and experience things on my own as a solo mage. I fee like this would be the perfect opportunity for that as well as giving myself time away from Natsu and Lisanna for my heart to heal. Our last mission I was too distracted by the thought of those two together that I ended up getting hurt and making everyone worry. I don't want that to happen again"

Erza looked at the blonde and seeing the determination in her eyes smiled "I understand Lucy, and I will help you explain to the others. I don't know how Natsu will react though, we should probably prepare for the worst he may even try to follow you on missions."

Lucy frowned at that thought "I really don't want him following me he wont be able to resist jumping into the action if I find myself in any kind of danger"

"Then I will do my best to keep him in line while you are gone" the red-head replied

The two girls stayed up well into the night discussing Lucy's plans to travel; Erza even outlined a very strict work out routine for the blonde to follow while she was away. After Erza left for Fairy Hills Lucy laid back in bed trying to plan out what she would say to Natsu tomorrow to make him understand how much she needed his time alone. I'm sure Erza can make him see things my way she thought as she finally gave into sleep.

* * *

><p>The next day Lucy awoke earlier than usual still a little unsure about how she was going to break the news to Natsu without hurting him. She decided that a nice hot shower would help clear her mind before she went to the guild to face her team. She sighed in content as she entered the steamy water. All those days in that horrible infirmary the thing she had missed the most was the luxury of a nice hot shower. She took her time washing her hair with her strawberry honey shampoo and scrubbing her body down with her vanilla body wash. This is the life, she thought as she let the water run down her curvaceous body for a few more moments before stepping out of the shower and wrapping herself in a towel.<p>

After going through her extensive wardrobe Lucy finally decided on a simple yellow sun dress that showed of her long tan legs. Holding the dress up to herself in the mirror for one more good look the blonde suddenly frowned. This dress wouldn't do at all she needed to work on getting stronger and flaunting her body in a flimsy sun dress wasn't going to help her with that. Putting the dress back Lucy grabbed a pair of short black work out shorts and simple white spaghetti strap shirt she finished the outfit off with her running shoes and her belt which held her whip and keys. "Might as well start Erza's work out routine today" she thought as she put her hair into a high pony tail.

Walking out of her apartment Lucy started to streach before her run to the guild when suddenly a sparkling golden light caught her eye.

"Good morning Princess are you ready to head over to the guild?" Loke purred as he took in the view of Lucy bent over with her ass in the air

Lucy frowned seeing Loke's blatant observation of her ass "What are you doing here you pervy Lion?"

The lion spirit grasped at his chest in mock dismay "Why Princess you wound me I am here to help you train. We're running to the guild today right?"

The blonde looked at Loke noticing that for once he wasn't in his usual dark suit instead he stood before her in a simple pair of gray sweat pants and a dark green tshirt. "Fine you can run with me, but I want you right beside or in front of me you're not going to run behind me and check out my ass the whole time"

"Princess do you really think so little of me" he replied pouting

Lucy simply stared at her faithful Lion with her arms crossed in front her chest.

"Fine...fine...you win I wont run behind you to check out your ass" The Lion relented not even bothering to hide his disappointment

Loke actually turned out to be a good running partner he set a good steady pace and kept her motivated the entire run pushing her to keep up with him. He even managed to keep the number of times he looked over to watch her large chest bounced as she ran to a bare minimum much to Lucy's surprise.

As they came to a stop in front of the guild hall Lucy felt as if her lungs were about to burst out of her chest panting she looked up at Loke and frowned, he didn't look like he even broke a sweat. Was she that out of shape? No it must be a celestial spirit thing there was no way she was THAT bad off she thought as she struggled to get her breathing under control.

"Oi Blondie you going to stand in front of the guild hall all day? You're blocking the doors" someone shouted behind the blonde

Lucy turned around fully intent on giving whatever jerk thought he could talk to her like that a piece of her mind when she found herself face to face with Laxus. Looking up at the lightning dragon slayer Lucy suddenly found herself at a loss for words of all the people to find her outside the guild hall it had to be Laxus. He probably thought she was an idiot...I mean look at him he looked like he could run across Fiore and not even break a sweat and here she was dieing after barely a 2 mile run. She wondered how much time Laxus devoted to working out I mean the man didn't get a body like that by just hitting the gym sporadically his muscles looked like they had muscles.

"Well just let me know when you're done drooling over me so I can go inside Blondie" Laxus said looking down at the blonde with a smug smirk breaking her train of thought

Blushing Lucy sputterd "I wasn't checking you out! I was just thinking that you look like you're...in really good shape"

The lightning dragon slayer pretended to look thoughtful before taking a step towards Lucy effectively backing her against the guild doors "You know that sounds a lot like checking me out" he whispered seductively into her ear

Lucy flushed bright red and for some reason her legs couldn't seem to hold her up properly they wavered threatening to give out at any second. She opened her mouth to say something...anything but all that came out was a tiny squeak. Suddenly the sound of Laxus' booming laugh filled her ears breaking the trance she was in.

"Calm down Blondie I'm just joking with you" he laughed reaching behind the stunned blonde to open the doors to the guild hall still laughing as he walked inside

Lucy looked over to see Loke clutching his sides nearly doubled over in laughter "You were here the whole time! Aren't you supposed to help me when things like that happen? What happened to my 'loyal lion'" the blonde raged fixing the spirit with her most threatening glare which only caused the ginger haired man to laugh even harder

"I'm sorry Princess it's just I've never seen you so flustered by anyone before." Loke finally managed to sputter out in-between fits of laughter "I can't believe you told him you were checking him out"

Lucy flushed again "Stupid Lion... stupid Laxus... I wasn't checking him out" she replied annoyed when her obvious embarrassment just made Loke laugh even harder "Ugh lets just get inside and get this over with"

Annoyed Lucy pushed past the lion spirit into the guild hall intent on finding Natsu.

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><p><strong>Thank you again everyone for all your wonderful reviews. We finally got to see at least a little bit of Laxus this chapter and next chapter we should see Natsu's reaction to Lucy wanting to venture out on her own.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy took a deep breath as she walked into the guild hall intent on finding her pink haired partner, and she spotted him almost instantly at the teams usual table. Natsu waved the blonde over to the table as soon as he caught her eye and Lucy's steps faulted for a moment before she felt Loke walk up behind her.

"Come on Princess you know what you have to do" her spirit encouraged her as he gave her a slight nudge forward

Taking a deep breath Lucy started towards her friends trying not to let her nerves get the best of her as she sat down across from the dragon slayer as he shoved food into his mouth.

"Natsu I need to talk to you about something, but I need you to promise that you will hear me out before you say anything. Can you do that for me" Lucy said eyeing the fire mage seriously

Natsu to his credit stopped shoveling food in his mouth as he replied "Yea sure Luce what's up"

"You know I love being a part of Team Natsu I think we work great together and have a lot of fun, but..." Lucy started

As soon as the word but left her mouth Natsu jumped up "Lucy you're not leaving the team are you?! Is this about the last mission? I'm so sorry you got hurt Lucy and I promise I will do a better job of protecting you next time. Please Luce just give me another chance" those onyx eyes fixed on the blonde pleading with her not to say what he thought was coming next

"Natsu you said you would let me finish before you said anything, please just hear me out." Lucy replied laying her hand on top of her best friends trying to calm him so she could finish before she lost her nerve.

The fire mage was uncharacteristically calm "I'm sorry Luce I'll listen" he said sitting back down staring at the blonde intently waiting for her to finish

"Like I was saying I love being a part of Team Natsu, but I think that I need to go off and train on my own for a bit. This last mission made me realize I rely on you and the others too much to protect me. I want to be stronger, but to do that I need some time to myself to train and learn to rely on my own powers. I'm not leaving the team. I just want to...take a hiatus for a month or two work on strengthening my magic, doing some traveling, and looking for some new keys. I want to be able to hold my own when we go out on missions together; I don't want you to always have to worry about protecting me. What do you think? Maybe you could spend the time I'm training going on more missions with Lisanna." Lucy finished watching Natsu closely for his reaction.

The fire mage was quiet for a moment as he stared at the ground "I could help you train Luce...you don't have to take a break from the team" he whispered not looking up

Lucy felt her heart breaking, this is what she had been afraid of she didn't want to hurt her friend but she needed this. "Natsu I know that you could help me train, but I also know that if I were in danger you would rescue me. I can't get stronger if I know that when things start to get hard you'll bail me out." she replied squeezing his hand silently pleading with him to understand her.

Finally his onyx eyes met her chocolate ones "Ok Luce. I understand Happy and I will train to get stronger too that way when you come back to the team we'll be the strongest around"

Lucy felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest and she smiled at her best friend "Thank you for understanding"

Lucy and Natsu spent the rest of the day at the guild together laughing and drinking, and when the rest of the team showed up he helped Lucy explain to them how she wanted to train and get stronger and how he was going to train as well. Both Grey and Erza agreed that they would do some training as well, which of course led to Grey and Natsu fighting over who would be the strongest after their training. Lisanna made Lucy promise her to stay safe, and Loke was quick to make a long heartfelt (and pervy) speech about how he would protect his 'beloved princess' with the 'power of love'. Team Natsu enjoyed the rest of the night together drinking and laughing before they parted ways for the night all of them promising to train and become stronger so they could stay the 'strongest team in fairy tail.'

Before Lucy left the guild she made sure to go to the request board to try and pick out her first solo mission she passed over anything that involved a lot of fighting or monsters finally she found one that caught her eye. It was in Balsam Village a man was looking for his missing daughter the reward was 100,000 jewel and 2 silver gate keys.

She quickly took the request from the board and went to find Mira at the bar "Put me down for his mission Mira"

The barmaid smiled at Lucy "Your first solo mission huh? How exciting Lisanna told me about you wanting to train to become stronger I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks Mira well I better head home so I can leave for Balsam first thing" the blonde replied waving goodbye to her friend and heading home.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, paperwork had become the bane of Laxus' existence he hated every part of it. While he was happy that his grandfather was training him to be the next guild master some day he felt like the old man might be using him to do his more tedious tasks. Freed of course was always willing to help him in any way he could, and Laxus didn't know if it was because the rune mage was such a good friend or if he had some sort of freaky paperwork fetish. As soon as the green haired man would walk into his office and see the stack of paperwork Laxus would see his eyes light up and he would practically beg to help him. Naturally Laxus would never deny his dear friend the joy of sifting through a stack of damage reports and writing apology letters, but today Freed was out on a mission and he was stuck here trying to figure out how the hell the members of this guild managed to cause so much damage every time they went out.<p>

As he finished looking over the last complaint Laxus looked up to see his grandfather walking through his office door and taking a seat in front of his desk. "What do you want old man? Don't tell me you're here to drop off more paperwork." he frowned looking over his desk at the guild master

Makarov shook his head "No no boy that was everything" he replied laughing slightly at his grandsons loud sigh of relief "I actually came here to ask a favor of you. I have a mission here that I would like you to personally handle, alone." he said leaning over the desk to hand Laxus the mission request

Laxus frowned as he looked over the request reading it over twice before giving his grandfather a puzzled look "I don't get it why do you need me to do this mission? It's barely S class anyone could take care of it and why alone?"

"Well actually the mission isn't important it's just an excuse for you to go to Balsam Village...to watch over Lucy." Markov replied looking sheepishly at his grandson

The lightning dragon slayer just stared at the guild master for a moment as if waiting for him to tell him it was a joke or that there was something else to this mission. "You're serious. You want me to take a mission to take out some monster terrorizing this village just so I can babysit Blondie?"

The old man cleared his throat before fixing Laxus with a serious look "Lucy has decided to go out on her own and train to become stronger which is a very noble goal; however, right now her thoughts are confused Erza has spoken to me about how distracted she was on their last mission. It seems she is having trouble coming to terms with Natsu and Lisanna's relationship, and is using this time away from her team to mend her broken heart. She was seriously wounded on her last mission, and I'm worried about her I would like you to watch out for her on her first couple of missions without letting her know why you are there."

Laxus simply held his head in his hands groaning just imagining the headache this was going to cause him "So let me make sure I'm following you here gramps, I'm supposed to basically stalk Blondie on her next couple of missions because she's upset Flame Brain is dating Lisanna?"

Makarov simply got out of his chair and smiled at Laxus "Well since you seem to have a good grasp on the mission I'll let you get to it. She leaves for Balsam first thing tomorrow."

The blonde mage simply watched dumfounded as his grandfather walked out of his office what the hell was the old man thinking? He wasn't a babysitter and he was pretty sure Blondie wouldn't be happy with him following her around like some creepy stalker. He was getting a headache just thinking about it; although, if he was out watching Blondie maybe gramps would actually do his own paperwork for once. Laxus smiled thinking of his paperwork free days this could work out all right.

* * *

><p>Lucy smiled to herself as she headed to the train station, she couldn't believe she was finally going on her first solo mission. Calling out Plue she walked along the river's edge waving absent mindedly at the boat men as she thought about the 2 silver keys she was going to get from this mission.<p>

"Which keys do you think we'll get Plue" She asked looking down at her smiling spirit

"Puu-Pun" he replied balancing on the edge

Smiling she bent down to pick the little spirit up as she saw the train station coming near "You're right Plue we'll just have to wait and see now let's hurry and get a ticket for the train"

As she pulled her suitcase with Plue in her arms she noticed the station seemed more busy than usual hopefully the ticket line wouldn't be too long she was already getting a later start than she wanted. Erza had come over the night before to go over the training schedule she had made for Lucy one more time before she went on her mission, and they ended staying up late into the night talking about Lucy's first mission naturally she had overslept this morning as a result.

"One ticket to Balsam please" The blonde requested when she finally made her way to the ticket counter

As the ticket vendor handed her the ticket he looked worriedly at the clock "You should probably hurry miss that train leaves in 5 minutes"

"WHAT!" Lucy screamed snacking up Plue and making a mad dash across the train station.

She would not miss the train on her first solo mission that was just not acceptable. Yelling out various apologies as she bumped into people in her rush to catch her train, she pushed herself to run even faster she HAD to make this train. Finally her train came into view and Lucy gave out an excited squeal before she suddenly found herself falling to the ground after slamming into the back of a man waiting in line to get on the train.

Groaning she picked herself and Plue up "I am so sorry...LAXUS?!"

Great why was it every time she decided to embarrass herself he had to show up? Did he have some sort of radar for this type of thing?

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><p>Laxus grinned as he looked down at the flushed blonde this was perfect he had gotten to the train station first and she had run into him, this would definitely work in his favor. "Wow Blondie I'm used to women throwing themselves at me, but usually it's not that hard what did you do get a running start?"<p>

"Humph" Lucy grunted as she brushed off her skirt "I most certainly did not 'throw myself at you' what are you doing here anyways?"

"Well Blondie I'm doing what most people do at a train station...I'm catching a train. I got a mission in Balsam." he replied turning back towards the train

He smiled to himself as he heard her freaking out behind him this girl was just so animated. He wasn't happy about this mission, but at least her over dramatic reactions to everything made it interesting. Without looking back he boarded the train and after securing the last private car on the train he sat back and waited for Lucy to join him. There was no where else on the train for her to sit; he really lucked out when she showed up to the station late. When she didn't come after him right away he frowned. What if she didn't follow him he was supposed to be watching over her he couldn't do that if she sat on the other side of the train. Suddenly the sent of strawberries and honey came from behind the car door...there she was. He closed his eyes and leaned back as he waited for her to gather the courage to open the door.

"L..Laxus do you mind if I sit with you this is the last open spot on the train" Lucy asked almost meekly as she stood right inside the door her wiggly little spirit in her arms

Opening his eyes slowly the blonde dragon slayer fixed the celestial mage with his trademark smirk "Awe Blondie you miss me already?"

Laxus watched as her face went from embarrassment to anger in a matter of seconds "It's not like that! There is no where else to sit!" she sputtered her face a brilliant shade of red

"I don't know Blondie first you're checking me out at the guild, then you throw yourself at me in the station, and now you're trying to get me alone on the train car are you sure you don't have a crush?" he asked deciding to see how far he could push the busty blonde, after all he had to do something to keep himself entertained on this mission

He couldn't stop from laughing as he watched her stand in the door way shaking in embarrassment and rage her mouth gaping like a fish as she tried to muster a defense against his accusation.

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><p>Once again Laxus' booming laugh filled Lucy's ears as she struggled to overcome her embarrassment. The nerve of this asshole. AS IF she would ever have a crush on a smug jackass like him. He wasn't even THAT attractive I mean sure he was OK if you were into men with ruggedly handsome faces, beautiful blue eyes, golden hair, and the body of a greek god...which she most certainly was NOT! Wait why was he looking at her like that...with that stupid smug look on his face<p>

"Well Blondie if you're going to stand in the door way drooling over me all day you might as well sit down the train is about to get moving" Laxus said leaning back in his seat

"I was NOT drooling over you...and you're blonde too you idiot!" Lucy huffed as she sat down across from the lightning mage trying to look at anything but the smug dragon slayer

"Whatever you say Blondie" he shrugged as he put on his sound pods

Man this was going to be a long train ride how did she get herself into these situations?

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><p>Laxus closed his eyes letting his music soothe him as the train the train started moving for some reason he didn't like the thought of getting sick in front of Blondie. He knew she was watching on him, as soon as he had closed his eyes he felt her gaze caressing him. He just smiled inhaling her sweet scent finding the mix of strawberry and honey strangely soothing. This mission should be interesting all right<p>

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><p><strong>THANK YOU everyone to reviewed! Hope you liked this chapter we should start seeing a lot more Laxus and Lucy interactions now that they're out and about on their missions.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

When the train pulled into Balsam Lucy could not get away fast enough, she didn't even spare a backwards glance to Laxus in her rush to get off the train. She was so embarrassed, why was it every time he was around her brain turned to mush? The cocky dragon slayer didn't make things any easier on her always calling her "Blondie" and implying she was checking out his body. Really when you got down to it it was Laxus' fault anyways who told him to wear such form fitting shirts in the first place; how could her gaze not be drawn to his muscular body? Lucy was certain he did it to draw attention to himself and then taunt poor innocent girls like her self who were sucked in. Suddenly Lucy frowned, why was the lightning mage here in the first place? Lucy didn't remember seeing any other missions in this area, but she never checked the S class mission board. The blonde shuddered if Laxus was here that could mean that something really serious was going on in this town.

Lucy hoped her mission wouldn't cross over into whatever Laxus was here for she wanted to finish this on her own, and she would hate for the dragon slayer to have to rescue her on her first solo mission. As Lucy made her way to her hotel for the night she noticed the streets were practically empty, and that there were very few women out at all. She knew Balsam was supposed to be a very lively town, but the streets were all but empty and even though it was fairly early in the evening the shops all seemed closed. The celestial mage frowned now even more concerned as to why Laxus was here; the empty streets must have something to do with his mission she doubted one missing girl would cause such a panic. She began to wish that she had scheduled her meeting with the client tonight instead of in the morning so she could find out exactly what was going on here.

Finally Lucy made it to hotel in the middle of town and after checking in began to unload her suitcase into her room. She had packed for two weeks not knowing how long it would take her to find the missing girl and she didn't really want her clothes getting wrinkled sitting in the suitcase that long. After all of her things were put away in the hotel dresser Lucy laid back on the bed unsure of what to do next usually when she went on missions she would share a room with Erza and they would sit up and gossip about the boys or discuss their plan for the mission. Looking over at the clock she saw it was barely 6 o'clock, what was there to do to pass the time here all the shops she saw on her way in were closed. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment before she sprang out of the bed excited, this hotel had a bar downstairs she could get cleaned up and go down there. Lucy knew bars were a great place to catch up on town gossip, so maybe she could find out why the rest of the town was shut down so early in the evening. Lucy gave herself a mental high-five for her amazing idea as she got everything ready to go take her shower.

She sighed as she stepped into the warm water feeling all of her stress and worries for the day being washed away. She reached down for her shampoo inhaling the sweet scent of strawberry and honey as she began to wash her long blonde locks. As she leaned back into the water to rinse her hair off she couldn't help but wonder what Natsu was doing right now, was he off training alone with Happy or was he off on a mission with Lisanna? As she worked the conditioner into her hair she wondered if the pink haired dragon slayer was lonely and missing her as much as she was missing him. She frowned as she grabbed her body wash and began to scrub down her curvaceous body; he probably wasn't alone Lisanna would be with him for sure. Lucy could feel the tears welling up behind her eyes as she remembered how the two of them had looked walking out of the hotel room on their last mission, they could barely keep their hands off each other there was no way Natsu was missing her with Lisanna around to keep him company.

Shaking her head Lucy tried to clear her mind of the depressing thoughts she had drug up; she was on a mission and she needed to focus she didn't want to end up back in the infirmary. Leaning back into the water she rinsed her hair and body off and stepped out of the shower wrapping herself in a large fluffy hotel towel. As she eyed herself in the bathroom mirror she couldn't help but wonder why Natsu didn't find her desirable she was an attractive woman. Lucy walked over to the dresser to pick out an outfit for the bar; without thinking she grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a low-cut backless yellow and black shirt and quickly threw it on before heading back to the bathroom to dry and style her hair. She knew she was attractive Natsu would have to be blind to not she thought as she combed out her blonde locks. However, every time she had gone on a mission with the fire mage her sex appeal had failed her, that creep Everlue had even gone so far as to call her ugly. Maybe Natsu was just as blind to her obvious beauty as he was.

Lucy finished her hair opting to leave it down instead of one of her signature hairstyles, and as she walked back in to the bedroom she stopped after catching a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror by the dresser. Her jeans were skin-tight, hugging her curves in all the right places, and torn just enough that they gave a tantalizing view of her creamy skin underneath. The shirt she had chosen was a vibrant yellow with the exception of the sides which were black making her narrow waist appear even smaller while emphasizing the dramatic flair of her hips. It was so low-cut it was a mystery to even Lucy as to how it managed to contain her ample bosom, but the thing she loved best about this particular shirt was the back. It had a thin yellow strap at the top right at the top of her shoulder blades and then her entire back was left bare with the exception of the bottom 5 inches where the shirt laced up with a thin black ribbon. Lucy finished off her outfit with a pair of black pumps and gave herself one more appreciative glance before she grabbed her money and headed down to the hotel bar.

As she walked into the brightly lit bar Lucy was pleased to see that unlike the rest of the town this place seemed to have a little life to it. Lucy caught sight of a group of men sitting at the far end of the bar and decided to head that way to order her drink hoping she could use her feminine wiles to get some information from them. Making her way across the room Lucy made sure to give her hips just a little extra sway hoping to catch the eye of the men at the bar. Suddenly, she felt someone slam into the side of her sending her stumbling and crashing into someone sitting on the bar stool next to her. Lucy closed her eyes and braced herself to the impact of the hard floor of the bar but it never came instead she simply heard a soft "oof" as she landed on top of a very firm body.

Opening her eyes slowly Lucy saw she had landed right on top of the man sitting on the bar stool her eyes traveled up his body appreciating the well-defined muscles that seemed to be straining to get out of his fitted black shirt.

Blushing she let her hands linger on the firm body beneath her as she pusher herself up and found herself looking right into the stormy blue eyes of "...LAXUS!" she managed to sputter as she suddenly tore her hands away from his body as though she had been burned.

Why? Why did it always have to be him? She barely even heard the drunken man apologize for running into her as she just stared at the blonde dragon slayer. She was going to hear it from him now for sure she had practically been fondling his body on the floor after she fell. She wondered if a person could die from embarrassment.

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><p>Laxus had been ready to deck whatever drunk idiot had knocked him off his bar stool until he caught the familiar scent of strawberries and honey; once he realized who it was he had quickly rolled his body so that he would take the brunt of the fall and Blondie would be unharmed. He had crashed to the ground with the petite celestial mage landing right on top of him; the dragon slayer had to stifle a groan as he felt he busty blonde's body pressed against him and her running her hands along the length of his chest as she slowly lifted herself off of him didn't help things. Laxus found himself sitting up with her trying not to break the contact between their bodies. He watched as the shock set in once her eyes met his and she realized who she had just been feeling up and he couldn't help but smirk.<p>

Before she could try and run away from him Laxus grabbed her by her hand and slipped his other arm around her waist pulling her to her feet and once again pressing that deliciously sweet body against himself "You know Blondie if you're that desperate to cop a feel you can just meet me in my hotel room I'm sure the bed would be much more comfortable than a sticky bar room floor." he whispered huskily into her ear

He couldn't stop himself from laughing as he felt her tense and then violently shove him away. She really was just too easy to get worked up he thought as he watched a blush stain her cheeks. He let his eyes wander over her body as she tried to compose herself and he was almost instantly rewarded with a hard on. What the hell was Blondie wearing? Her shirt if it could even be called that seeing as how it seemed to be struggling to contain the girls ample breast was his favorite colors of all things. Had she known he would be here? No, Blondie would have never dressed up like this for him it must be a coincidence, but damn those jeans looked like they had been painted on and every peek he got of her creamy thighs through the various rips and tears was almost too much to handle. He tried to at least keep his face from betraying what was going on in his pants as he watched the blonde struggle to find something to say to him before she suddenly spun on her heel and started to walk away from him.

Laxus almost didn't stop her from walking away the view from behind was just too magnificent the way her heels emphasized her curvaceous ass and...wait what the hell did that shirt have no back? The lightning mage nearly groaned when he saw the creamy skin of Lucy's back barely obscured by the ribbon lacing up the bottom of the shirt. Suddenly Laxus became all to aware of the other men in the bar and the way they were looking at his guild mate; he could practically smell the lust coming off of them in waves.

That was all it took to snap him out of his daze and he reached out and grabbed the blonde bombshell's hand "Hold on Blondie I was just kidding; why don't you sit down and have a drink with me?"

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><p>Lucy was furious with herself how could she let herself be humiliated in front of Laxus...AGAIN. This time was by far the worse she had groped the man on a bar room floor; she was so flustered and embarrassed she couldn't even think of a witty retort when he suggested she could have met him in his hotel room. Then as she was trying to compose herself once again for the third time in the past two days Lucy heard Laxus' hearty laugh it seemed to fill the room and surround her and she knew she had to get away before she did something else to look like a fool in front of the blonde lightning mage. As she turned to walk away she felt Laxus' strong hand grip hers as he asked her to stay and have a drink with him.<p>

Lucy's mind was reeling why would Laxus of all people want to spend time with her surely he must think she was some kind of idiot with the way she had acted around him these past couple of days. She turned and once again her chocolate eyes seemed to lock onto Laxus' stormy blue ones and she found that she couldn't bring herself to tell him no.

Laxus didn't release her hand until she was sitting in the bar stool next to him "There you go Blondie now what are you drinking" he asked motioning the bartender over

"A strawberry daiquiri please" she ordered smiling at the bartender when he made his way over

The two fairy tail mages sat in silence drinking their drinks until the lack of conversation started to get to Lucy. "So what kind of mission brings you to Balsam?" she questioned between sips of her drink

"Nothing major just a few monster attacks." He replied matter of factly "So what about you why are you here all alone I've never seen you take a mission without your entourage"

Lucy frowned for a moment before replying she didn't want to tell Laxus she was here because she was a stupid love sick girl that managed to lose focus and get hurt on her last mission. "I need to be stronger" she replied softly "I'm tired of being the damsel in distress waiting for some gallant knight to swoop in and save me"

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><p>Laxus admired her honesty even if it was only a half truth "That's an admirable goal Blondie, to want to protect yourself after all sometimes that knight in shinning armor you keep waiting for is just some idiot in tin foil."<p>

Lucy seem to look at him with a questioning gaze before she burst out laughing "An idiot in tin foil that's a good one I'll have to remember it" she replied after ordering herself another drink.

Laxus sent most of the night drinking with Lucy; they laughed and told stories about various missions with their teams in the end Laxus didn't know which of them had it worse Lucy with her ultra destructive team or him with his super clingly one. He found that he really enjoyed the blonde's company he could see why everyone in the guild was head over heels for the celestial mage. Laxus looked over at said mage and saw she was starting to sway on her bar stool and decided it was time to cut her off and get her back to her room. He downed the remainder of his drink and called the bartender over to settle the tab ignoring the flushed blonde's insistence that she pay for her own drinks.

Finally he stood up pulling the other mage up with him "Come on Blondie you're tanked let's get you back to your room"

"Awe come on Laxus just one more drink" she replied giggling as she tried in vain to get back onto her bar stool.

The blonde dragon slayer frowned Lucy's antics were starting to draw the attention of the other men at the bar he needed to get her back to her room before one of them got bold enough to try something. "No Blondie you're done for the night it's time to go back to your room"

"Hey man she doesn't want to go with you so why don't you buzz off we'll take care of her for the night" one of the drunks at the bar slurred as he threw his arm around Lucy

Laxus saw red how dare this man touch Blondie "Get your hands off of her before you lose an arm" he growled his powers sparking wildly around him

The man was either too drunk or too stupid to realize the danger he was in and he simply smirked as he pulled Lucy closer to him "You don't want to go with this loser do you? Why don't you stay and have some fun with us" he whispered into the blonde's ear as he let his hands roam across her sides

Laxus watched as Lucy looked up at the strange man and then back at him before she made an effort to disengage herself from the mans grasp. "I think Laxus is right I should go" she replied

When the man pulled the blonde tighter to his side the lightning mage decided he had enough the drunk didn't even have time to react before Laxus' lightning covered fist met his face. The mans friends looked like they would try and defend their comrades honor, but a growl from the muscular mage had them cowering in their seats.

"Come on Blondie lets go" Laxus said reaching out for the celestial mage's hand

The inebriated blonde smiled up at Laxus before launching herself at him and pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you Laxus" she mumbed into his chest as she passed out drunk

The dragon slayer sighed "You're welcome Blondie" he replied as he scooped the petite girl up in to his arms

Laxus carried Lucy back to her room which conveniently enough was right across the hall from his own. Now where would the blonde keep her key he wondered as he looked down at her sleeping form; he set her on the ground supporting her weight with one arm as he patted down her pockets. Not feeling the key in her front pockets Laxus ran his hands across her backside silently praying she wouldn't wake up and he would have to explain why he was groping her ass. Finally Laxus found the hotel key in her back pocket and after unlocking the door he scooped the petite mage back into his arms and carried her inside.

He made his way to the bed quickly when he felt the sleeping girl start to stir in his arms; he was about to set her down when he heard her inhale deeply. Was she sniffing him?

"Mmmm...you smell good" she mumbled into his chest "Like a rain storm...and electricity"

Blushing Laxus set Lucy in her bed and took her shoes off before covering her with a blanket. "Good night Blondie" he muttered as he made his way out the door

"Good night Laxus" he heard her reply sleepily.

After making his way into his hotel room Laxus stripped down to his boxers and laid in bed. He didn't know what his grandfather had been so worried about Blondie seemed fine she had been laughing and having a good time with him at the bar, and she didn't seem upset at all when she talked about the flame brain and the rest of her team. He would call his gramps tomorrow and let him know she was doing fine and that he and red were worried for nothing. Suddenly Laxus heard a faint sobbing coming from the room across the hall. Was that Blondie? Getting out of bed he threw on his pants and made his way to the door.

He walked into the hallway frowning when he could smell salt and hear crying coming from Lucy's room. He stood outside her door and used his dragon hearing to try and make out the mumbling he heard. Straining he could only make out one word from her strangled sobs "Natsu" he frowned for some reason that one word upset him more than anything. Blondie shouldn't waste her tears on that moron she could do so much better. He stood outside her door for a few more moments debating on if he should go in and comfort her.

"Yea right and say what Laxus 'Hey Blondie I heard you crying from my room I'm here if you need a shoulder to cry on' that wont sound creepy at all" The dragon slayer ran his hands through his hair in frustration before huffing and making his way back into his room.

He didn't know why hearing the Blonde cry over that flaming idiot had him all worked up. He would have to come up with some excuse to check up on her tomorrow, and it looks like he wouldn't be calling gramps just yet. Laxus sighed as he felt himself start to drift off to sleep he would find a way to cheer the Blonde up tomorrow.

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><p><strong>Thank you everyone for all your reviews! Sorry it took me so long to update things have been crazy for me at work and to top it off I've been sick which is no fun at all. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning Lucy found herself standing in front of Laxus' hotel room door trying to muster up the courage to knock; she couldn't believe she had made such a fool of herself the night before. She didn't know why she drank so much she knew she didn't have a very high tolerance. Finally, after steeling her nerves she knocked quietly on the lightning mage's door silently praying he wouldn't hear and she could simply go about her day. When she didn't hear anything for a couple of moments she thought her prayers had been answered and turned to leave, but fate wasn't with her today and as soon as she tried to make her escape the door opened behind her.

Lucy turned fully prepared to apologize to Laxus for her embarrassing antics the night before, but the sight that greeted her sucked the air right out of her lungs and she found herself unable to remember how to breathe properly let alone speak. In the door way stood the blonde dragon slayer clad in nothing but a small hotel towel which barely granted him any modesty. She watched as a bead of water fell from his dripping blonde locks onto his muscular shoulders; she couldn't tear her eyes off of the drop as it made it's way down his sculpted chest and abs before it disappeared beneath the towel around his hips.

"I was wondering when you were going to come by Blondie, you've kept me waiting." Laxus said as he pulled Lucy into his hotel room

The young blonde didn't even try to resist as she was pulled into the room and the door softly closed behind her "Waiting for me? Why would you be waiting for me?" She finally managed to ask

The lightning mage simply raised an eyebrow looking at her quizzically for a moment before stepping towards her pinning her against the door "I told you last night that if you wanted to touch me you could just meet me in my room. I didn't think you would keep me waiting this long." He whispered giving her ear a slight nip

Lucy was at a loss for words Laxus' close proximity seemed to be effecting her ability to think straight "T...touch you? Y..y...you want me to touch you? Now? In your room? When you're wearing a towel?" she sputtered out as she tried to control her breathing.

Laxus slipped a hand around Lucy's waist as he guided her to the bed in the center of the room before sitting on the edge and looking up at the blonde "Now now this isn't about what I want Blondie, this is about you. Do you want to touch me, now, in my room, and do you really want me to keep the towel on when you do?"

Suddenly the room seemed to spin around Lucy and she felt like she was about to faint thankfully her brain reminded her that air was important and she should probably look into getting some of it into her body stat. Taking a deep breath Lucy looked down at the blonde dragon slayer who was now leaning back on the bed before her waiting patently for her response. Did she want to touch him? Did she dare to? Without thinking her hands started to reach out towards Laxus itching to feel every inch of his perfectly toned body, but she suddenly stopped halfway what about Natsu? Would he be upset with her if he found out?

As if sensing her hesitation Laxus leaned his body forward slightly so that just the tips of her fingers were brushing his shoulders. That was all it took for Lucy, just that small amount of contact was enough to snap her control and she suddenly found herself running her hands down the front of his body memorizing every inch of it. She didn't even notice when Laxus pulled her on top of him so that she was straddling him as he laid across the bed she was too caught up with the feel of him beneath her fingers. Lucy was still memorized by the water dripping off his body, and without even thinking she leaned down to lick a bead of water as it made it's way down the column of his throat.

Laxus groaned beneath her tilting his head back giving her easier access to his neck. Lucy gratefully accepted his invitation trailing kisses down his neck and across his collar-bone; she slid herself down his body every so slightly so she could use her tounge to trace the outline of the tattoo surrounding his guild mark. The powerful man beneath her seemed to tense and for a moment Lucy wondered if she he done something wrong, but before she could even give it a second thought Laxus had switched their positions and Lucy found herself looking up into those stormy blue eyes.

"My turn Blondie" he whispered hungrily before sealing his mouth over hers

Now, Lucy had been kissed before not many times mind you, but enough to know that this could not be classified as a kiss. This wasn't the shy hesitant build up she was used to, this wasn't slow and sweet, this was forceful and dominating it was as if Laxus were trying to consume her and Lucy was helpless against him. She submitted to the lightning mage's mouth completely as he used his tongue to map out the inside of hers, moaning she spread her legs allowing him to sink between them. None of it seemed to be enough for Laxus, the greedy dragon slayer nipped at her bottom lip and grabbed her thighs wrapping them around his waist as he ground his ever growing bulge into her heated core.

"Tell me what you want Blondie." Laxus murmured as he trailed wet hot kisses down her neck

Lucy's mind was in a haze what she wanted? She wanted him to keep doing whatever he wanted to her body, every touch from him sent sparks flying through her nervous system.

Laxus gently nibbled on the base of Lucy's neck obviously growing impatient with her lack of response "Come on now Blondie just tell me what you want. Unless you want me to stop." He whispered as he continued to grind their hips together creating a delicious friction that was driving Lucy mad.

The celestial mage opened her mouth to respond, but all that came out was a breathy sigh as Laxus continued to assault her exposed neck. Suddenly everything stopped and Lucy could feel Laxus pulling away from her as he sat up.

"Well if you can't tell me what it is you want I guess I should probably stop" Laxus said running his hand through his still damp hair

Lucy was in a panic. STOP? No he couldn't stop! Not now! She needed more there was something missing and she knew he was the only one who could give it to her. Frantically she grabbed for the muscular body above her "Laxus...please"

She watched as a smug grin spread over Laxus' face "Please what? What do you want" He asked leaning back down so his face was a mere breath away from hers

A blush spread over Lucy's cheeks how could she put it into words when she didn't even really understand it herself "Please Laxus...touch me" she whispered trying to overcome her embarrassment

"Touch you? I'm touching you now" Laxus replied rolling his hips into hers emphasizing his point "You'll have to be more specific about what you want"

Lucy couldn't hold back a moan as she felt that delicious friction start to build up again "Please...please Laxus...I want...more" she panted as she brought her hips up to meet his

Laxus smiled above her and Lucy knew he was just loving the effect he had on her "More huh? That still isn't very specific I'll tell you what I"ll make this easier" he replied sitting up and holding his hands out to the girl beneath him "just show me where you want me to touch you."

Lucy gasped she couldn't do that it was so brazen...why wouldn't he just touch her? He was toying with her and she knew it, but what choice did she have? She was getting desperate at this point it wasn't a matter of wanting him to touch her she needed it ,and she wasn't above playing his game and begging to get it. Without another moments hesitation she reached out for his hands and pulled them against her breast "Please Laxus...just touch me..." she replied panting as she rolled her hips up and into his enjoying the moan he let out when she did "I just...I just need you to touch me...please"

Whatever Lucy had expected him to do it wasn't enough to mentally prepare her for his response as he tore apart the button down shirt she had worn as well as her bra exposing her breast in a matter of seconds. Her initial anger over her damaged clothing was short-lived when Laxus expertly took one of her pert nipples into his mouth, caressing and nipping at the sensitive bud as he massaged her other breast with his sinfully skillful fingers. Lucy immediately wound her fingers into his short blonde locks as she arched her back pushing her large breast further into his face.

She could feel Laxus smirking against her skin, but she was beyond caring at this point she was in heaven. "God...Laxus" she managed to moan between ragged breaths

Grinning Laxus released her nipple with a loud pop "Now now Blondie just Laxus is fine no need for formalities, besides we've barely gotten started"

Barely started what was he talking about there was no way this could get any better she was already a panting quivering mess beneath him what else could he do? Suddenly she felt Laxus switch to her other breast, and she soon realized what he ment when he said they had barely gotten started. She felt a slight buzzing vibration on her moist nipple, and she couldn't hold back a loud groan. Was he using his powers on her? Oh god...this man was unbelievable. Now she knew why he was so cocky how could he not be he was obviously some sort of sex god.

Lucy felt her back bow and her grip on Laxus hair tighten as she saw stars. She had just been given her first orgasm by a man and he hadn't even gotten in her skirt yet.

Once again she felt Laxus seal his lips over hers as he swallowed her cries as she came down off her high "So responsive that's what I love about you. Now tell me is there anywhere else you would like me to touch you?" he asked as he trailed a hand up her thigh coming dangerously close to the hem of her skirt

Without even thinking Lucy untangled her hands from his hair to grab Laxus' wrist and drag it to her heated core grinding herself against his palm "Please...please..." she just kept chanting the word like a mantra.

Lucy didn't think she could form a coherent sentence right now if she wanted to, but thankfully her heated begging seemed to get her point across to Laxus just fine.

"What a naughty girl you're already dripping wet" Laxus responded running his finger across her obviously moist panties before sliding both said panties and her skirt off her quivering body and inhaling deeply "You smell delicious I think I'll have a little taste" he said spreading her legs

As soon as Laxus' tongue met the tip of her dripping folds Lucy was in heaven every slow deliberate slide of his tongue sent her further into oblivion, but still it wasn't enough she needed more. Once again she found her self with fist full of the dragon slayers blonde hair as she moaned and panted out incoherent versions of his name. Soon she felt him bring a hand up to massage her clit, and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming when she felt the first surge of electricity against the sensitive nub.

"Tsk tsk Blondie you shouldn't hold back like that. How will I know if I'm doing a good job or not if you don't let me hear your reactions?" Laxus murmured between long languid licks

When he sent another spark into her already sensitive clit Lucy couldn't hold back anymore she was sure the entire hotel could hear her as she screamed her release. Laxus never once ceased his ministrations drawing out her orgasm for a as long as he could he seemed to drink down the juices that flowed from her. Her second orgasm had sent her reeling, and Lucy got the feeling that Laxus was far from finished as he once again positioned himself over her body and began nibbling on her neck. She was going to be covered in love bites she just knew it, but some how she couldn't bring herself to care.

"So, are you ready for the main event?" Laxus asked as he slowly inserted a finger into her still quivering vagina

Lucy looked up at Laxus and let her eyes travel down his body to the obvious bulge that was still somehow obscured by the towel. She knew he was big she had felt him earlier when he was grinding against her, almost timidly she reached for the edge of the towel and pulled it away to reveal his long thick shaft. Lucy couldn't hold back a gasp when she saw his large manhood standing proudly in front of her there was no way that would fit in her.

Laxus smirked as he added a second finger and skillfully found that little button inside Lucy that had her clenching the bed sheets screaming his name "Don't worry Blondie it'll fit, trust me"

Once she recovered from the over stimulation Laxus was causing Lucy reached out and gingerly touched the tip of his leaking penis causing the dragon slayer to hiss. "I'm sorry...I didn't" Lucy started to apologize

Laxus effectively cut her off when he added another finger "Touch me...now" he all but growled in her ear

Those two words seemed to embolden Lucy and she reached forward to once again grasp his penis sliding her hand from the tip to the base marveling at the impressive length and girth, all the while enjoying Laxus' skillful stroking of her insides as he seemed to find her g spot with every thrust. Now, Lucy had never seen a penis outside of the couple dirty movies she had watched, but she knew that Laxus had to be above average. She watched in fascination as precum leaked out of the tip, and suddenly Lucy had the uncontrollable urge to know what it tasted like. She stopped her stroking ignoring the lightning mage's groan of disapproval and swiped her finger gently over the tip gathering a bit of the sticky substance bringing it to her mouth. Lucy watched Laxus' eyes follow her finger to her mouth and saw his eyes darken as she tasted him; she found that she enjoyed that she could effect him as much as she did her.

Suddenly Laxus pulled his fingers from inside her and once again switched their positions so that Lucy was straddling him as he lay on the bed "Now I want you to ride me" he said as he positioned the blonde over his cock thrusting up slightly so that the tip barely passed through her folds "Show me, show me how much you want me"

Lucy impaled herself on his throbbing member in one swift motion gasping at the sudden sensation of being filled completely. Placing her hands on his taut abs she gave herself a moment to adjust to his size before moving in a slow experimental manner. Oh god she had been wrong everything they had done before paled in comparison to the feeling of Laxus moving inside her. She began moving in slow steady motions as she relished the feeling of him penetrating deep into her core with each thrust. Lucy still felt as though she was missing something, it was as if she were on the brink of something mind-blowing and all she needed was a little push to find out what it was.

Suddenly Laxus grasped her hips tightly and thrust into her with a quick snap of her hips, and Lucy found exactly what was missing. She began trying to match his quick rough pace, but she found herself being completely dominated by him. He may have let her be on top, but there was no question as to who was running the show here.

"God...Laxus...please...harder" She managed to pant out in between her frantic thrust

With a growl Laxus once again flipped their positions and threw Lucy's ankles over his shoulders and just like that she was lost. There was nothing in this world beyond Laxus and his sweaty body rubbing against hers as he relentlessly pounded into her core while she clung desperately to him. She could feel her insides drawing tight like a bowstring and she knew she was close to her third orgasm when suddenly the unthinkable happened, he slowed down.

"No Laxus...please...I'm so close..." she whimpered feeling her orgasm slip away from her

Her soft whimper did nothing to spur the dragon slayer above her into action as he continued his slow torturous pace "Beg me" he whispered as he bent down to nibble gently on her ear "Beg me to let you cum"

Lucy was beyond reason by now and without thinking she began to beg the man above her to go harder, faster, anything just let her cum. She cried out when she was rewarded by Laxus pounding into her with renewed vigor, and once again she felt that familiar spark as his hand sought out her clitoris with his powers. All it took was one spark and she was undone with him not far behind her, she screamed his name and raked her nails down his back as she milked his cock. Laxus continued to thrust slowly drawing out both of their orgasms as long as possible before finally pulling out and laying down beside her.

"Laxus...that was...I mean you are...amazing" Lucy managed to pant out after coming down from her post orgasmic high

The cocky dragon slayer simply smirked at her "Yea I know, but just think about how much better this would be in real life"

Suddenly Lucy shot out of bed and looked around her dark hotel room. A dream! She had just had a wet dream about Laxus of all people, and it was...unbelievable.

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><p>Laxus woke up early that morning intending on inviting Blondie out to breakfast before he checked in with the mayor for his mission. He knew she had cried herself to sleep last night and that just didn't sit well with him. He knew he wouldn't be able to focus on his mission if he didn't at least make sure she was ok before he left. After taking a quick shower he threw on some black pants, a purple button down shirt, and his signature jacket before heading across the hall to check on the celestial mage. He was about to knock on the door when his nose picked up the strong scent of arousal coming from behind the door. What the hell? Was someone in there with Blondie?<p>

Laxus leaned into the door listening carefully and was relieved when the only sounds he heard were the blonde's steady breathing and heart beat; she must be having a dream. For some reason that made the lightning mage frown, she was probably dreaming about that flame brain and right after she spent the night crying over him. Laxus huffed and turned to walk away he wasn't going to wake Blondie up from some wet dream about that moron to go out to eat with him. Suddenly, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks. No. It couldn't be. Did Blondie just say his name?!

Not caring how it looked the blonde dragon slayer found himself standing in the door way with his ear all but pressed to the door trying to make out the sleepy mumblings of the girl on the other side. Laxus groaned when he distinctly heard the words "Laxus, please, and touch me". He couldn't believe she was in there dreaming about him and he found himself slowly palming his now painfully erect member through the confines of his pants as he continued to listen to her lustful moaning.

Through the door he could hear her panting and moaning his name along with things like harder and faster, and it took every ounce of self-control he had to pull himself away from that door. Maybe he would invite Blondie to breakfast after all...after a nice long cold shower of course.

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><p><strong>Gah ok that was my first lemon...I hope it wasn't too long or drawn out. I wanted Lucy and Laxus to have some sexy time, but I feel like it's still too early in the story since Lucy is still trying to get over Natsu so dream sex seemed like a good answer for that. ^_^ Well I hope you enjoyed it and thank you to everyone who read and reviewed everything so far I 3 you guys<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy stood in the shower trying to let the cool water calm her still lust ridden body. How could she have a dream like that about Laxus of all people the man was an egotistical jerk. He wasn't even half as attractive as he thought he was with his firm chiseled body, dreamy blue eyes, and perfectly kissable lips. He probably wasn't even as good in bed as he was in her dream that was just her over active imagination after all what woman would even let that perv anywhere near them. As she closed her eyes to rinse out her hair she found herself picturing the dragon slayer wondering if his body really was that delicious under all those clothes as her hand wondered down to massage her clit. Suddenly Lucy opened her eyes and snapped to attention...no...no she was not going to touch herself in the shower while she thought about that arrogant bastard. She just had one dragon slayer choose another woman over her and it devastated her there was no way she was getting mixed up with another one.

Lucy threw on a pair of skinny jeans and a pale blue and white striped tank top. She would just avoid Laxus at all cost today she didn't think she could handle seeing him right now. The blonde knew she should apologize to the lightning mage for her behavior last night and thank him for making sure she got to her room safely, but she was sure she would just end up making a fool out of herself. She just needed to focus on her mission and not let another man get in the way of her improving herself. This mission was about her learning to be more independent not for her to fall into the arms of the first hot guy that flaunted their perfect body in front of her. The mission was her focus she would meet with her client, get started on the mission, and avoid Laxus at all cost. It was a good pep talk and Lucy was smiling as she walked out of her hotel room and ran right into the very person she was trying to avoid.

"Oi Blondie we have to stop meeting like this" the dragon slayer smirked as he caught the blonde before she could fall back after running into him.

"L..L...Lax...Laxus!" Lucy finally managed to stammer out her face burning. No no no this could not be happening why was he outside her door. Maybe he was here to tease her about last night and her drunken antics. She had to get away from him he was too close she could feel the warmth of his body as he held her up and she'd be damned if that son of a bitch didn't smell like a fucking rainstorm. It was all too much for her she felt her knees start to give out as her heart threatened to pound it's way out of her chest.

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><p>"Hey you ok Blondie? Still hung over from last night?" Laxus asked as he held Lucy on her feet and listened to her erratic heart beat throughly enjoying the effect he had on the celestial mage.<p>

"L..Lax...Lax...Laxus" the blonde stammered out as she swooned in his arms

"Yea Blondie it's Laxus, I think we established that. I came by to see if you wanted to have breakfast with me. We didn't really get a chance to talk about our missions last night and I think it would be a good idea to exchange notes and keep each other updated just in case there is a connection between the two" the dragon slayer stated as he fought to keep Lucy stable and on her feet

"B..Breakfast?" Lucy asked still seemingly in a daze

"Yea breakfast...you know eggs, bacon, pancakes, and juice. Are you sure you're ok Blondie? Not running a fever or anything are you?" Laxus asked as he pulled the petite blonde almost flush with his body using one arm to support her and the other hand to check her forehead for a temperature. Laxus knew he should probably stop pushing the blonde so hard; he didn't think her face could get any redder and she had yet to slow down her racing heart. Poor girl he could practically feel the waves of lust and confusion rolling off of her, and he knew he was to blame. He was just having too much fun and he didn't know why. Normally if a girl starting stammering and swooning over him he found it tiresome and annoying, but with her it was different he liked to see how much he effected her.

"Pancakes I like pancakes" Lucy mumbled as she struggled to stay upright.

"Alright Blondie let's go get you some pancakes" Laxus replied unable to hold back his laughter

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><p>That laugh, that deep booming laugh is what finally snapped Lucy out of her daze. She couldn't believe she had let him get to her again! Lucy could feel his chest rumbling as he enjoyed yet another laugh at her expense and she finally managed to compose herself enough to push away from the tall blonde who in response simply doubled over in laughter.<p>

"Just let me know whenever you're done laughing at me" Lucy snapped fixing Laxus with what she thought was her meanest sneer

Unfortunately Laxus didn't see it that way and her response only made him laugh harder causing Lucy to walk away from the lighting mage in a huff.

Still laughing Laxus caught up with her quickly and threw an arm over her shoulder "Come on Blondie don't be like that. I'm taking you for pancakes remember...you like pancakes."

"Oh haha you just think you're so funny don't you." the celestial mage replied crossing her arms and pouting. Didn't Laxus have anything better to do than torment her? Ever since she ran into him at the guild hall it's just been one embarrassing disaster after another with him. She thought it couldn't get any worse after she fell on him at the bar, but swooning in his arms there was no way she would ever life that down.

"Now now Blondie don't pout" Laxus said finally managing to control his laughter

"You're blonde too you idiot that nickname doesn't make any sense" Lucy replied apparently deciding that pouting was in fact the best response to this situation

Laxus simply shrugged as he guided her to a table in the hotel restaurant "Order anything you want my treat"

Lucy was about to argue that she could pay for her own meals, but before she could say anything she was interrupted by Laxus.

"Blondie I'm paying for breakfast, now you can either order something for yourself or I'll order for you if you're not done pouting" the dragon slayer stated looking over his menu at the petulant blonde

By this time Lucy was beyond frustrated and she knew it wasn't all Laxus' fault part of it was her lack of control over her own body, but still who did he think he was? Huffing she looked pointedly away from the lightning mage as the waiter came to the table.

"Have it your way then Blondie." Laxus replied looking at the waiter to start his order "I'll have the sausage and eggs platter with extra sausage, 3 orders of bacon, 2 short stacks, and a ham and cheese omelette with extra cheese with orange juice to drink and Blondie over there wants the strawberry Belgian waffles with extra strawberries and a strawberry water."

As the waiter took the menus and left to go put their order in Lucy couldn't help but gawk at Laxus there was no way he was going to eat all that food. I mean sure Natsu ate a lot as well, but she had been sure that Laxus must have a strict diet to keep himself in such good shape. Natsu...she wondered what he was doing right now. He never paid for her breakfast usually it was the other way around she was always paying for him. She knew that he would constantly take Lisanna out and dote on her buying her whatever caught her fancy. Maybe if she had realized her feelings for Natsu sooner she could be sitting her having breakfast with him; although, then she wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to spend this time with Laxus which despite it's many embarrassing moments was rather enjoyable.

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><p>Laxus could sense the shift in the blonde's mood and smell the tears threatening to spill. She must be thinking about Natsu great he thought taking to her to breakfast would help cheer her up, but she probably used to go to breakfast with that flame brain all the time. This was probably just reminding her of all the good times she had with that idiot. For some reason the idea of Lucy thinking about Natsu while she was with him made his blood boil. He was ready for this mission to be over babysitting some love sick girl was not his cup of tea. The longer he watched her sit sullenly across from him pining for that idiot Natsu the angrier he became he was ready to just get up and walk away from the entire situation when he heard her mumble something.<p>

"What was that Blondie I didn't quite catch it" he asked in a bit harsher tone than he ment to

"I said thank you Laxus. You know no one has taken me out to breakfast in a really long time. I used to have Sunday breakfast at a small café with my mother when I was younger, but after she died my father let the tradition die with her. I missed it" she replied smiling softly

Laxus was shocked surely even that moron took Lucy out to breakfast before a job sometimes "I would have thought that idiot Natsu took you out you guys spent so much time together." as soon as the words left his mouth Laxus regretted it he didn't know what he would do if she started crying here at the table

"No usually I was the one who took him out and treated him to meals." Lucy replied offering a sad smile "At first I wondered if I had realized my feelings for him sooner maybe things would have been different and I could be off some where having breakfast with him right now, but then I realized if that happened than I wouldn't be here spending this time with you. And even though it's been completely embarrassing for me most of the time I have to admit that I've had fun."

Laxus smiled he was glad to hear that Blondie was enjoying herself "Now are you sure it's my company you're enjoying Blondie and not just the free food and scenic view?" he asked streaching back and gesturing to his well toned body in an attempt to lighten the mood

Lucy laughed even as her face started to flush red "You know you're awfully full of yourself don't you?

The cocky dragon slayer simply smirked and said nothing as the waiter came and set down their plates of food in front of them.

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><p>Lucy had almost forgotten how much food Laxus had ordered his numerous plates nearly filled their entire table. "You know you're going to get fat if you keep eating like this." she laughed as she watched the lighting mage stuff his face with eggs<p>

"Come one Blondie you were the one telling me just the other day what a great body I had and just last night you were trying to cop a feel on a bar room floor of all places. Obviously this diet is working out pretty well for me if I've got girls like you throwing themselves at me at train stations and swooning in hotel hallways." the dragon slayer replied fixing the celestial mage with a smug stare

"What I never said you had a great body! I said you looked like you were in shape and I did NOT feel you up on a bar room floor I just happened to fall into you just like I ran into you on accident at the train station!" Lucy huffed taking a sip of her strawberry water

"Mmmhmm and what about swooning the the hotel hall way this morning? You could barely stand with out me supporting you, or was that just a ploy to get me closer to you?" Laxus asked finishing off his eggs

"I...was...hungover and a little bit dizzy. Not everything is about you Laxus." the blonde pouted

"Hungover? That's what you're going with? Ok Blondie whatever makes you feel better." Laxus replied in between bites of pancakes "So tell me about this mission of yours."

"Oh it's just a simple missing persons case. A man is looking for his daughter; I'm meeting up with him after we finish here to get the specifics. I doubt it has anything to do with the monster attacks you're here for." Lucy explained before digging in to her waffles

"I wouldn't be so sure Blondie apparently she wasn't the first girl to go missing here there were at least 7 others before her. Look I have to go talk to the mayor this after noon to get all the details, but I think our missions might be connected. Let's meet up tonight we'll order room service and discuss what we find out. I know this is your first solo mission and you probably want to go at it alone, but there's nothing wrong with sharing information." the dragon slayer explained finishing off his 4th plate of food

Lucy flushed "You want to order room service together?!"

"Yea we really shouldn't discuss any of our findings in public since we don't know who all is involved yet. People already know fairy tail is here on a mission, so they can't over hear anything now that could effect our investigation but who knows what we'll find out and we need the edge of people not knowing what we know" Laxus replied after inhaling his bacon

Lucy was a bit shocked usually Team Natsu just went into a town destroyed what needed destroying (and a little bit of the town for good measure) there was very little information gathering other than 'find who we have to fight'. Maybe it was a good thing Laxus was here one a mission at the same time he actually seemed to have a level head and probably could teach her a few things.

"Sorry I guess I'm just not used to all of this mission planning. Usually Natsu just goes around beating people up and destroying things until he finds the people we were paied to beat up or the things were being paid to destroy." the celestial mage laughed

"Yea well I'm nothing like that flaming moron" Laxus huffed "Well I have to go don't want to be late for my meeting with the mayor. We'll plan to meet up around nine I'll order room service and you can just meet me in my room it's right across from yours."

"Ok sounds good" Lucy said as she watched Laxus leave she hoped she hadn't upset him. She wasn't trying to compare him to Natsu it was just hard not to notice how different they were. Lucy took one last sip of her strawberry water and went off to meet with her client. She just hoped that she would be over all this awkwardness before she met up with Laxus again tonight.

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><p><strong>Sorry this update took so long real life can be a bitch sometimes anyways hope y'all enjoyed it and thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favorite this story so far. ^_^<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

After having breakfast with Laxus Lucy felt much more determined to succeed in her mission there was no way she was going to embarrass herself in front of the cocky dragon slayer...again. As she made her way to the clients house she couldn't help but wonder what it was about the lightning dragon slayer that made her so flustered she was usually never nervous around people especially men. Lucy wasn't ashamed to admit that she had used her good looks to her advantage when dealing with shop keepers or even her enemies, but for some reason when she was around Laxus she couldn't even remember to breathe properly. It wasn't just because he was attractive she has met plenty of attractive men she couldn't put her finger on what separated the blonde man from countless other good looking men she had met. Why was he the only one that turned her into a drooling idiot and she wasn't even going to think about that dream. The celestial mage could feel her face burning just thinking about it she never had dreams like that before...at least not about men she knew. Even Natsu never got a starring role in any of her erotic dreams, but one night drinking with Laxus was all it took for her over active imagination to go into hyperdrive.

Before she knew it Lucy was standing in front of the client's house and after steeling her nerves she reached out and knocked on the door hoping her knock didn't sound as nervous as she felt. While she waited for someone to answer the door she couldn't help feeling anxious this was her first mission where she wouldn't have her team to fall back on she needed to make sure she stayed focused and aware of her surroundings...there was no Natsu to save her this time.

Finally a small elderly lady answered the door "Can I help you young lady" she asked her body still half hidden behind the large oak door.

"Hello, I'm Lucy from fairy tail I'm here about your job request." Lucy replied "I'm supposed to be meeting with Mr. Harvey today to discuss the details"

"Oh yes yes" the old woman replied her face seeming to light up at the mention of the fairy tail guild "please come inside. Mr. Harvey is just finishing up with the local detectives and then he will be right with you. Would you like something to eat or drink while your waiting" she asked as she led Lucy into a large living area

"No thank you I'm fine" the blonde smiled as she looked around the room before a picture of a young girl caught her eye

"That's Erika" the old woman explained "She's been missing for 2 weeks now it's been so hard on her father she's all he has left after his wife passed a couple of years ago. I know the detectives are doing their best to find all the missing girls, but they just don't seem to have any luck which is why Mr. Harvey put out the request to your guild."

"Other girls?" Lucy asked picking up the picture to get a better look "So Erika isn't the only one who has gone missing?"

"No I believe there were 6 or 7 other girls before her and one more went missing just 2 nights ago" she replied sadly taking the picture from Lucy and motioning for her to take a seat next to her on the couch "They were all young beautiful girls about your age one day they were there and then poof they vanish into thin air"

"Did Erika know any of the other girls"

"No she may have seen a few of them in passing or at her job, but she didn't know any of them personally. None of them have anything in common other than they are young and beautiful which is why the detectives are so stumped. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the kidnappings." the old woman explained with tears in her eyes "It's just such a shame they have their whole lives ahead of them and from what I understand they were all very nice girls none of them did anything to deserve this"

"Don't worry I'm going to do my best to find Erika and the other girls" Lucy replied with a determined glint in her eye "You have my word as a wizard of fairy tail!"

The old woman smiled and pat the young blonde's knee as she stood "Thank you child that makes me feel much better. I'm going to go get us some tea and let Mr. Harvey know you're here I'm sure he's eager to speak with you."

Lucy continued to look around while she waited for her client to show up so there were at least 9 girls missing and the police had no clues how long had this been going on? Lucy frowned obviously this wasn't just a 'simple missing person' case like she originally thought add the missing girls to all of the recent monster attacks that Laxus was here to investigate...just what was going on in this town. Perhaps this wasn't the best choice for her first solo mission...if the police couldn't figure anything out what made her think she could do any better? NO! She thought as she forcefully shook her head this was her mission and she was going to see it through.

"Hello Miss Lucy" a voice said snapping the blonde out of her thoughts "I'm Mr. Harvey I called you here to investigate the disappearance of my daughter Erika. May here tells me she's already told you some of the details." he says gesturing to the old woman standing just behind him with a tea tray "but I'm sure you still have many questions you would like to ask me before you get started."

"Yes sir thank you I know this must be hard on you I'm very sorry for what has happened to your daughter. May says your daughter didn't know any of the other girls on a personal level, but that she may have seen them at her job where did Erika work Mr. Harvey?" Lucy responded eager to get as much information as she could perhaps there was something the other detectives had missed.

"She works at the bakery down the street. It's the most popular one in town, so it's very likely that she would have seen some if not all of the other girls there at least in passing. Erika was very friendly and got a long with people very well at her job, but she didn't have many friends outside of work and spent most of her time here at the house reading or painting."

"Would you mind if I went to her job and asked her coworkers a few questions?"

"No not at all they all know that I reached out to the guilds for help and would be more than willing to help with your investigation."

Lucy noticed that the more the client talked about his daughter the more he seemed to sink into a state of depression "Don't worry Mr. Harvey I promise I'm going to do my best to find your daughter. I would like to get started right away, so if you don't mind I'll be leaving now I want a chance to talk to every one at the bakery to see if they have any insight to offer."

As Lucy stood to excuse herself she was completely unprepared for Mr. Harvey to spring up and embrace her tearfully "Thank you. I appreciate everything you're doing for us Miss Lucy just please bring my daughter back...one way or another."

"I promise" she responded returning the embrace

* * *

><p>Lucy walked quietly down the street the bakery Erika worked at wasn't far from her house and according to the copy of the police report the client gave her before she left Erika had gone missing on her way home from work. Looking around Lucy saw that there were plenty of dark alley ways that someone could easily hide in and surprise an unsuspecting young woman walking past. Is that how they got her? Were they waiting for her there in the dark and more importantly had they been after her specifically or was she just at the wrong place at the wrong time? As she walked inside the bakery she hoped they would be able to give her a little more information. When she opened the door Lucy's mouth immediately began to water everything smelled and looked so good it was no wonder this was such a popular bakery it all looked so delicious.<p>

A tall blonde man came from behind the counter to greet her "Hello, you must be Miss Lucy" he greeted "My name is Hans Mr. Harvey told me we should be expecting you today" he explained as he extended his hand to Lucy

"Thank you for taking the time to talk to me" Lucy smiled as she shook his hand. To say Hans was gorgeous would have been an understatement he looked like the kind of man who should be the star of every romance movie ever.

"Well why don't I show you to my office and we can discuss this in private" he replied placing his hand on the blondes lower back as he guided her behind the counter to the offices in the back

"Sure no problem" the petite mage beamed as she let Hans lead the way

As soon as they reached the back office Lucy launched into her line of questioning; however, she was a bit disappointed to find that Hans couldn't offer her any more information than Mr. Harvey and May had. The day Erika disappeared was a day like any other she came to work and while they had a very busy day nothing remarkable happened and then when it came time to close she left and Hans stayed behind to finish cleaning the shop and count the money.

"If I would have just left early or offered to walk her home she would probably still be here today" the beautiful blonde man explained cradling his head in his hands

Lucy felt her heart-break for the gorgeous man before her "It's no ones fault Hans, there is no way you could have known what was going to happen." she replied as she laid her hand on his shoulder trying to soothe him "You've been a big help to me and I'm going to do my best to find out what happened to Erika."

The celestial mage's pep talk seemed to calm the baker a bit "Thank you Miss Lucy, if you have any more questions please feel free to stop by any time. I want to do everything I can to catch the person who did this."

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><p>Lucy thanked Hans again for all of his help and before she could leave the bakery she found herself loaded down with a bag full tasty treats courtesy of the handsome baker. As she made her way back to the hotel she noticed that once again even though it was still early in the evening the shops all seemed to be closing and the streets were all but empty. She picked up her pace as she saw the hotel come in to sight. She got an eerie feeling that someone was watching her from the shadows, and while she would normally just chalk it up to her being paranoid with everything that was going on in this town it was better to be safe than sorry. Lucy made it back to the hotel just a little after 7 and decided to stop by Laxus's room to see if he was back early as well she was eager to see if he had any information that could help her on her mission.<p>

Hopefully the dragon slayer had more luck than she did today digging up information Lucy thought as she knocked on the door. After waiting a few moments with no answer the blonde decided that he must still be out and turned to walk across the hallway back to her own room.

She made it to her door and as she was reaching for her key she heard the door open behind her "Hey Blondie you're early guess you just couldn't wait to see me huh?"

Lucy turned around with every intention of giving the cocky dragon slayer a piece of her mind, but as soon as she laid her eyes on the lighting mage it seemed as though all the air was sucked from her body. There he was standing in the door way to his hotel room wearing nothing but a towel his blonde hair still dripping wet, her dream from the night before came flashing into her mind and to her horror she let out a low moan. She could see Laxus's lips moving he must be asking her something, but for the life of her Lucy couldn't make out his words she was too focused on the drop of water traveling down his chisled chest as it passed his firm pecks and seemed to glide down those taunt abs before reaching the towel hanging loosely on his hips. God how Lucy wanted to reach forward and rip that towel from him so she could reveal every last inch of that glorious body, she vaguely heard Laxus calling her name and lifted her gaze to meet his.

* * *

><p>Laxus had answered the door for the busty blonde after he got out of the shower not bothering to put on more than a town in the hopes that he would have another opportunity to tease her for checking him out; however, he had not expected such a lustful reaction from her. He watched as he eyes roamed freely over his body and saw her cheeks flush as she seemed lost in thought.<p>

Suddenly, he heard her moan and it was almost his undoing he could feel his cock twitching under her lustful stare "Too bad Blondie if you would have been just a few minutes earlier I would have let you wash my back" he joked hoping to snap the celestial mage out of the trance she seemed to be in.

When she didn't respond Laxus could feel his control start to slip he continued to watch her as she seemed to follow the trail of a drop of water as it slid down his body; he didn't know how much longer he could stand here while she brazenly eye fucked him. He needed to put an end to this now before he lost control and did something they would both regret.

Once again he tried to get her attention "Come on Blondie I know I'm hot, but..." the words died in Laxus mouth as Lucy's gaze rose to meet his, her eyes were swimming with lust and desire, he couldn't remember the last time a woman had looked at him with such raw want and need.

Before he knew what he was doing he closed the distance between himself and the petite blonde in front of him, tossing the bag of baked goods she had been holding aside and pushing her against her hotel room door hooking his hands beneath her thighs and wrapped them around his waist letting his body sink into hers. He growled with lust as he felt her small hands ghost over his chest and shoulders before winding themselves in his wet hair; he heard her gasp as he ground his hips into hers trying to show her with out words what he wanted from her. The blonde didn't disappoint as she moaned and thrust back against him obviously trying to use the friction he was causing to relieve some of her tension.

As he leaned forward to seal his lips over hers he heard his name escape from her lips and it sounded like something between a whisper and a prayer; it was the first time she had spoken since he opened the door for her and that was all it took for him to regain control of his body. This wasn't some woman he met in a bar this was Lucy and she deserved more than being taken by a man like him against a hotel room door. She was the kind of woman men romanced with candle lit dinners and long walks on the beach and he was the kind of man who would give a woman a nice hard fuck in a bar room bathroom, he was not the kind of man she should be with and he couldn't risk tainting her.

"Damn it Blondie what are you doing to me" he groaned as he buried his face in her neck inhaling her sweet scent


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy was still having trouble forming a coherent thought the world outside the blonde dragon slayer before her just seemed to fade away. All that mattered to her was the feel of his firm body against her and as he leaned in and buried his face in her neck. She was surrounded by his scent and it was intoxicating; what was it about this man that just made her lose complete control of herself? She could feel him mumble something against her skin as he buried his face in her neck and although she couldn't make out what he was saying just his breath against her skin was enough to cause her to moan and arch her body against his. As the petite blonde let her hands roam freely over the lightning mage's chest and shoulders and through his thick blonde locks she could feel his body grow tense against her as his grip tightened on her hips in an attempt to hold her still. Why? Why was he trying to hold her still she needed more.

"Blondie, stop we can't do this" Laxus groaned against her skin.

Once again the dragon slayers warm breath on her skin only served to entice her and she continued to coax his body into action with her own.

"Blondie, I said STOP!" the lightning mage responded more forcefully this time

Reality came crashing down on Lucy what in the world was she doing forcing herself on Laxus like this! What was she thinking?! Tears began to fill her eyes and she tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but found herself held firmly against the wall.

"Laxus please just let me go I'm sorry I don't know what I was thinking" Lucy said pushing against the larger mage in a vain attempt to put some distance between them as tears began to fall. She thought she would die from embarrassment how could she have let herself lose control like this

"Come on Blondie don't cry, and I know exactly what you were thinking" Laxus replied as he rolled his hips against hers so the petite celestial mage could feel the bulge growing in his pants "It's the same thing I was thinking, but we can't. I'm not the kind of guy you should be doing this with you deserve better."

"What you mean is you don't think I'm experienced enough for you" Lucy mumbled look pointedly away from Laxus

"Damn it Blondie" Laxus nearly shouted as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration "That's not what I mean at all I'm trying to be a nice guy here and not take advantage of you."

"Just put me down Laxus" the blonde replied as she pushed away from the lightning mage still refusing to meet his eyes

* * *

><p>The dragon slayer could feel his frustration growing the beast inside him was screaming for him to ravish the beautiful blonde and make her his, and he was doing everything he could to resist the urge but she wasn't making it easy for him.<p>

"Damn it Blondie you have no idea what you do to me, or what I want to do to you. If it were up to me I would take you right here an now in this hallway." Laxus growled as he flexed his hips forward grinding their hips together to create delicious friction "You feel that? That is what you are doing to me. I want to fuck you right against this wall until you forget that you ever desired any other man. I want to hear you scream my name while I fuck you until you can't walk straight, so everyone knows just who you belong to. But that's all it would be Blondie...fucking and you deserve so much more than that and you deserve more than a man like me."

Once again Laxus buried his face in her neck inhaling her sweet scent; it was like a drug to him he just couldn't get enough. Slowly he lowered the stunned blonde to the ground she hadn't spoken since his confession, and he couldn't blame her she was probably disgusted with him. As soon as her feet hit the floor whatever trance the blonde was in seemed to shatter and she moved away from him and began to bed down to collect the pastries that littered the floor of the hotel hallway. Now he was the one just standing unable to even look at the beautiful blonde afraid to see the disgust in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I was being childish about this whole situation Laxus" The celestial mage said finally breaking the silence "Why don't you take these and finish getting dressed, and I'll take a shower and then meet you in your room so we can discuss the mission." she said pushing the bag of baked goods into the dragon slayers hands

"Yea sure sounds good Blondie I'll order us some room service as well" he replied pretending to rummage through the bag of pastries still unable to meet the blondes gaze.

When he heard her door close he felt his heart clench were they going to go back to acting as if nothing happened between them? Did she hate him now? God why did that old man have to send him on this stupid mission she probably just made things worse for her.

"Real good Laxus molest a girl that just had her heart broken in a hotel hallway...that's just fucking perfect." he grumbled as he tossed the bag of food on the table by the door and snatched the communication lacrima off the bedside table to call room service. He knew that he was taking his frustration out on the hotel staff when he placed his order, but he just couldn't seem to calm himself down.

He couldn't believe he let himself lose control like that, and then Blondie had simply picked up her things and gone about her business as if nothing had happened. She probably hated him for how he acted, and he couldn't blame her. Laxus ran a hand through is hair frustrated with himself for putting the two of them in this awkward situation when he was supposed to be helping her. He needed to talk to someone about this before he screwed things up even more but who? Freed, no he would just tell him that he didn't do anything wrong that man's hero worship was slightly disturbing at times. Ever would just call him a pervert and make him feel even worse. Gramps would kill him...no way he was going to call the old man and tell him how badly he screwed his up. That left only one person he just had to hope the lazy bum was even up at this time.

After throwing on some plain jeans and a tshirt Laxus picked up the communication lacrima once again and prayed that Bickslow was awake and sober enough to hold a conversation with him.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly the seith mage picked up after the first ring "Hey what's up man?" he greeted and he sounded genuinely surprised so see Laxus on the other end<p>

"Are you somewhere we can talk without anyone overhearing?" Laxus knew that rumors spread around the guild like wildfire and the last thing we wanted was people spreading rumors about Blondie

"Huh? Oh yea I'm at home it's just me and the babies you're good man."

That was one thing Laxus loved about Bickslow he just went with the flow without asking all of those annoying "why" questions and he knew how to keep a secret. Laxus sighed as he recounted the events from the moment the celestial mage had run into him outside the guild hall to the incident just a few moments ago in the hallway. To his credit Bickslow remained neutral until Laxus told him about basically dry humping the blonde against the hotel wall.

"Oh man you really have the hots for the Cosplayer don't you?" the blue haired mage replied nearly doubled over in laughter "I never thought I would see the day when you would have it this bad for a girl, but I guess I can't blame you Cosplayer has a pretty awesome personality to go along with that rockin' body"

As soon as the words "rockin' body" left the seith mages lips Laxus could feel his blood boil and he couldn't stop himself from growling at one of his oldest friends.

Naturally Bickslow found this hilarious "Did you just growl at me for talking about that smoking hot body? I can't help it you know Cosplayer knows how to flaunt what she's got. I can't say I would have been as noble as you with that delicious body pressed against mine." he laughed waggling his tongue provocatively

"Shut it Bicks this isn't about some random girl with a hot body this is about me taking advantage of Blondie. She deserves better than that she's more than just a nice pair of tits and long legs."

"Is that so?"

"She's a good person, and she deserves a man that will treat her right. That idiot Natsu broke her heart when he choose Lisanna over her, and then I turn around and make matters worse by molesting her in a hotel hallway of all places."

"But you stopped yourself before it went to far right? I mean the last hot blonde I saw you with you fucked on a bathroom counter and then never spoke to again."

"Of course I stopped" Laxus snapped "This wasn't some girl in a bar just looking to hook up with an S-class mage from Fairy Tail this was Blondie. I couldn't even bring myself to kiss her, because I knew she didn't need to be tainted by someone like me. Blondie deserves romance not a quick fuck...hold on I think room service is at the door"

Laxus tipped room service and pulled the 3 carts of food into the room looking everything over before returning to his conversation with his guild mate. "Now like I was saying..."

"What's all that?" The seith mage asked gestering to the plethora of food behind Laxus

"Room service we have to compare notes for the mission and I wasn't sure what she would be in the mood for, so I just ordered everything on the menu I've screwed up enough today."

"I see."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You're really starting to piss me off Bickslow."

"I think all of this has less to do with Cosplayer and more to do with you not being able to forgive yourself for what happened at fantasia. You've bought her drinks at a bar, taken her to breakfast the next morning, and are buying her dinner while helping her out with her mission. And in all this time even when she threw herself at you you didn't take advantage of her...not even a kiss. You've got it bad man, but if you continue to turn her down because you don't feel like you deserve her then you will lose your chance."

"It's better this way...trust me I'm no good for her."

* * *

><p>Lucy's head was still spinning when she stepped out of shower her body was on fire and the only thing she could think about was the feel of Laxus pressed against her. There was no way she could face him right now she felt like as soon as she saw him she would want to throw herself at him. What was wrong with her? She never felt this way about anyone else not even Natsu. Sure she had enjoyed spending time with Natsu, but usually the rest of the team was with them. When she was around the lightning mage he consumed her every thought nothing else mattered to her. Sure a lot of it was that amazing body of his, but really who wouldn't be distracted by his looks the man was like a god. Laxus was sweet and funny, he loved his team and the guild, and he was an incredibly talented mage.<p>

This was just so frustrating she was supposed to be here to get away from drama with me not swooning over Laxus of all people. Huffing she threw on a pair of worn jeans and a tank top and quickly brushed out her hair. She needed to get these lustful thoughts of Laxus out of her head and focus on the mission. This was just part of her training she already made this same mistake with Natsu, and now she had to stop herself from repeating it with Laxus. Determined and with her head in the game the blonde stepped out of her hotel room and made her way across the hall.

"MISS LUCY! MISS LUCY!" the mage turned see Hans running down the hallway trying to get her attention

"Hans? What are you doing here? Are you ok?" Lucy asked rushing to meet him half way down the hall

"It's Erika she's trapped you have to come help her!" the baker explained out of breath

"What do you mean she's trapped?"

"I was in the restroom at the shop and all of a sudden I heard screaming coming from near the sinks. When I walked over Erika was banging on the glass screaming for me to let her out. You have to come help her!" Hans explained tugging gently

Lucy turned back towards Laxus' hotel door "Wait let me grab my guild mate he can help us."

"There is no time! Who knows how long she'll be there" Hans shouted dropping Lucy's hand and racing back out of the hotel

Lucy was left with no choice other than to follow him if there was a chance to save Erika she needed to seize it.

* * *

><p>Laxus was beginning to worry about the celestial mage what if she decided not to come. He frowned how was he supposed to keep an eye on her if she was avoiding him? The dragon slayer decided he had waited long enough and would have to go collect the blonde on his own he needed to stay in the loop on her mission to keep her safe the old man would kill him if anything happened to her.<p>

The moment he stepped out into the hallway Laxus knew there was something wrong the celestial mage's sent was headed out of the hotel, but it was faint completely overpowered by another sent that he didn't recognize. The dragon slayer growled there was something wrong wit the other scent it reeked of dark magic.

"What the hell did you get yourself into Blondie?" Laxus muttered following the sent of the two mages out of the hotel

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><p><strong>Sorry this took me so long to update...work has been INSANE I haven't had a day off in about 3 months. Thank you to everyone that reviewed I'll try my best to update more often I promise :)<strong>


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